Silver Eyes
by Ryoko Ishida
Summary: During Yusei's childhood, he met an orphan girl with no home or hope. He brought her to Martha's, and she became good friends with the main quartet. Years later, Yusei waits for his opportune moment to get his revenge on Jack, not only for stealing his card, but... for putting Shinji in a coma? WHAT! Rated M for safety, and either JackxOC or YuseixOC (Leaning toward YuseixOC).
1. Coma

Inside a large stadium within New Domino city, one of the biggest events is about to unfold!

"Duelists young and old, professional and amateur alike! It's the moment you've been waiting for!" Inside the stadium, the massive crowd cheered loudly as the announcer talked, riling the people up. "So make some noise for the Number One ranked Turbo Duelist in the world, Jack Atlas!" The crowd cheered even louder, if possible, when a white bike with one large hollow wheel shot out from the entrance, shooting into the air before hitting the ground gracefully. "As he looks to add to his unbeaten streak today, one begs the question: Can anyone take this man down?"

Jack drove his motorbike through the arena once, looking out at the crowd and raising his arm and pointing upward. "Let's say we kick this turbo-duel into overdrive!" He exclaimed in a thick accent, riling the crowd up even more.

—

In a separate area known as Satellite, a rusty and poverty-stricken area, a boy was riding through the underground with a red and white motorbike. _I'm coming for you, Jack…_ The boy thought, his eyes narrowing. _And this time… I'm going to settle the score…_

—

"With one more warm-up lap to go, the rematch of the century is about to get underway!" The announcer exclaimed as Jack drove through the track, a serious look on his face. "But will the opponent ever show its face?" Everyone looked over as a man in a black motorbike appeared. "And Hunter has finally shown up, eager to regain his title!"

Jack and Hunter stopped at the starting line. "I'll fire things up!" Jack said as he pushed a button on his motorbike in front of his screen. " _Duel Mode Engaged."_ The voice on his screen said as a green field spell card appeared on screen. _"Autopilot standing by."_ Ten spaces, five in two rows, appeared on the screen.

" _Ready? Set? Duel."_ The announcement said. Jack and Hunter took off, driving down the track quickly, both with 4000 life points.

"You're all mine!" Hunter exclaimed with a smirk, drawing a card from his deck.

"Turbo-duel! Turbo-duel! Turbo-duel!" The cheerleaders exclaimed, dancing.

"And Hunter has played a powerful trap. Can Jack Atlas recover?" The announcer asked as the screen showed a large monster from behind him. Jack drew a card and placed it down, suddenly being surrounded by a bright, yellow light. He smirked.

"You've 'ad your fun. But it's time for my vict'ry lap." He said smugly as a large dragon emerged from the light. "Now I'm sure you remember my Red Dragon Archfiend from our last match, Hunter." The dragon roared and flew above Jack. "And since you worked so hard to get back here, you can have the honor of falling to my most powerful beast again!" He turned so he was facing the opponent. "Archfiend, send him back to the junkyard where he belongs with _Scorching Crimson Flare_!" He exclaimed. The dragon reared its ugly head back, before facing Hunter and shooting a blast of fire at him, taking away his last few hundred life points.

—

One of the pieces of the boy's motorbike blew out, forcing him to stop. The teen sighed and got out, looking at the smoking part. He took off his helmet, showing his dark black hair with golden streaks, and dark blue eyes. He looked up through the crack in the pavement above him at the dark moon. He frowned deeply. _I won't rest until I have my revenge… I won't let what you did to her slide._

—

"And Jack's unbeaten streak continues!"

"Who's the one Master of Faster?" Jack pointed to the sky. "Who rules the duels? That's right, it's me!"

—

The dark-and-gold haired teen frowned as he dragged his motorbike through the tunnels. He slowed down when he heard the announcer. "So Jack, can we get a word? Ever since you first started the scene with your first Duel Runner, the competition hasn't been able to keep up." He looked over to see three guys looking at the screen on a computer, where a live feed is playing. "Is it the power in your ride that has catapulted you to the top?" He took the bike and pushed it quietly up the ramp. He set it down next to another laptop and started typing.

On the screen, Jack swiped the mic from the announcer and looks out to the crowd. "Let's get this strait: it's not the power of the runner, it's the rider! I'll take on anyone on any ride and I'll still be victorious! Any more questions?"

"One more." The boy looked at the three talking. "Do you have anything to say to those who one day dream of challenging you?" The boy ignored the announcer as he turned a handle on the bike, revving the engine up before having it die down. This alerted the three boys by the computer.

"Oh! Hey Yusei!" One of them asked, raising a hand. The boy, Yusei, turned to him with a stoic expression. The second boy clicked the computer off.

"Sorry 'bout that… We would've watched the duel somewhere else, Yus, honest. But the cable we rigged wouldn't stretch any further."

"Jack was amazing as always." The third said as Yusei plug a few cabled into his bike.

"Hey, zip it, would ya?"

"What? What'd I say?"

"We don't want to her about how 'amazing' Jack Atlas was!"

"Oh. Sorry."

Yusei decided to speak up. "Only one person should be sorry."

One of his friends nodded. "Right. Jack still owes you for what he did…"

"You got that right."

"So where ya been Yus?"

"The tunnels," Yusei answered, "testing out a new acceleration chip. Sad to say, it didn't work."

"Too bad you ain't got your old Duel Runner…"

"Tank!"

"What?"

"It's fine, guys." Yusei said. He frowned. "But still… what happened to her was unacceptable… I will make Jack pay for what he did."

Footsteps echoed through the tunnels as a boy, who looked like a girl, ran down the stairs and toward Yusei. "Yusei! Hey Yusei!" Said boy looked over as the kid raced toward him.

"What's up, Rally?" Tank asked.

"Wait'll you see what I've found for Yusei!" Rally exclaimed as he ran over to Yusei and held his hand out. "Check this out! A SkyLine 30 Acceleration Chip!"

"That/s a SkyLine?" One friend asked. "Aren't those incredibly expensive?"

The other friend grabbed Rally's arm and lifted it. "It looks brand new. Don't tell me you stole this!"

"I didn't steal nothin'!" Rally exclaimed, breaking his arm free. "It was layin' on the ground! Maybe someone dropped it!"

"Rally, don't take things that don't belong to you! They'll track you down and mark us!"

"Calm down, Nirvin." Yusei said as he stood up. "Rally, let me see that chip." Rally handed it to him, an he switched out the chips on his Duel Runner. "This is just what I needed."

"You can't use that, Yus!" Nirvin exclaimed.

""You gotta make Rally take it back."

"I knew you'd like it! I knew it!" Rally exclaimed happily. "Will it make you faster?"

"Absolutely." Yusei answered.

"We know how you feel Yus," Nirvin started, "but I don't think it's worth the risk… You should just move on and forget Jack Atlas."

Rally puffed his cheeks out angrily at him. "But Jack also took Yusei's best card, remember?"

"And you remember that Jack's in the city, and his kind doesn't bode well with us Satellites."

"Yeah, and? In case you forgot, sometimes you gotta stand up for yourself!"

"Yusei, our Satellites should just stay put." He said, ignoring Rally.

Yusei typed on his computer. "Jack didn't stay, so why should I?"

"Just let him go, bro. Don't risk your freedom over some wheels and a card. He's right, it's time to put the past behind us." Yusei frowned darkly and stood, turning to the three.

"And what about her? Are you just going to give up on her?" His statement made everyone frown. "Jack put her in that state. I'm not going to give up or run away. I will make him pay for what he did to her."

"She betrayed us just like him!"

"But she saved my life. Why would she have done that if she was like Jack?" Yusei retorted, turning back to the screen of his laptop. "No… There's more to that. And I'm going to get my answers." His eyes narrowed as he recalled the last day… _The_ day.

—

" _Why are you doing this?!" Yusei yelled. He stood in the tunnels. Behind him a few feet away were Rally, Nirvin, Tank, and Blitz. Standing a few feet away was Jack and…_ her _… Jack was sitting on Yusei's old Duel Runner, sideways, his head turned to Yusei._ She _was standing with her duel disk up and ready, looking serious and guarding Jack._

" _Please, Yusei, just let us leave quietly." The girl said softly. Yusei frowned, his eyebrows furrowed. She looked into his eyes and saw all the hurt he felt at the moment, making her clench her fists._

" _It's fine." Jack said, making everyone turn to him. "I've got all I needed." The girl nodded and turned to him and Yusei glared at her back angrily._

" _You traitors! How could you?!" He yelled, making her frown._

" _Oh shut up, Yusei!" Jack snapped, shocking everyone. The girl walked over to the Duel Runner and was about to get on when Jack none-to-kindly pushed her onto the ground, knotting off the headphones around her neck. She looked up to Jack with wide eyes._

" _W-what are you…?"_

" _Your usefulness has just expired." Jack glared down at her shocked form, then at the others. "I'll see you around, Yusei." He laughed. "Oh who am I kidding, we'll never meet again!" Jack took something from his pocket and hit the button. The entire area shook, and cracks formed from above Yusei. Jack looked at the girl as she slowly stood and took a few steps toward Jack._

" _Jack… we had a deal… I go with you… and—"_

" _The deal's off. You weren't supposed to give them any hints as to what I would be doing, but you had to go and warn them." The girl grit her teeth. "You're no better than them." He turned the motorbike, making her eyes widen as she was slammed into the wall by the back of it, her head getting most of the damage and starting to bleed. He revved it up and raced out of the tunnels as they started to collapse._

" _JACK!" Yusei screamed out in anger as Jack disappeared into the darkness, unaware of the cracks above him. The girl turned and saw, making her eyes widen._

" _YUSEI!" She called out, standing with every ounce of strength in her now unstable body, and ran toward him. Yusei looked at her in shock as she shoved him away. He stared at her, and his eyes widened as she mouthed one word and smiled, just as the area around her collapsed, making all the rubble that was supposed to crush Yusei actually crush her._

" _No!" He yelled out in shock, trying to rush back in but being held by his friends._

" _No Yusei!"_

" _It's too dangerous!"_

" _Wait until the rubble's stopped!"_

 _They would yell, but nothing mattered to him. He finally stopped struggling, collapsing to his knees and watching helplessly as the dirt and debris buried her. He could hear his friends, but their voices were muffled. He didn't care. All that mattered was the look on her face as their eyes met and the word she whispered before everything crumbled. Yusei saw it. And that was his drive to finding her. Once the rubble came to a halt, Yusei stood quickly and searched frantically, pushing and shoving scraps of the tunnel in order to find her._

 _His friends watched sadly, "Yusei…" Rally whispered, watching as Yusei tore desperately at the pile of trash. Rally clenched his fists angrily._ Why does he even try? _He thought._ She just used us like Jack did! _He looked down…_

 _Yusei kept pushing through until he found something, his eyes widening when he saw raven hair poke out from the rubble. This caused him to dig her out even faster, his eyes wide in fear._ No, no, no! Don't you DARE be dead! I won't let you be! _He thought to himself. Finally, he was able to pull her out. He looked down at her body. Her legs, exposed from her short jean shorts, were all bruised and cut. Her black jacket with two dark blue stripes going down the sleeves and shoulders was torn up, and her torso was banged up as well, blood seeping from the worst cuts, since she only wore a sports bra, that showed more midriff than Marik, and her jacket was opened. Her face held bruises and a cut here and there, and her silver eyes were closed. Her right arm that the duel disk was once attached to was now twisted in an awkward angle, and her duel disk was shattered. Only the arm band attached to her and the deck holder (along with her deck) were still intact, though it was cracked almost everywhere. Yusei frowned as he brushed some pieces of small rubble trapped in her raven black short hair. This action causing him to realize her black hat must have gone missing along with her headphones._

" _Hey. Shinji." Yusei said, shaking her body lightly. "Hey!" He shook her more, but she didn't move. "Wake up! Shinji, wake up!" He pleaded, checking her neck for her pulse and freezing. "Shinji… please… wake up…" He held her close and tight, before screaming in anger._

 _She didn't wake._

—

Yusei blinked and shook his head from the memory. He stood and revved the engine up, making a loud noise that echoed throughout the tunnel. He grinned in satisfaction.

"Wow! Now that's what I call power!" Rally said excitedly. Yusei nodded at him, and he took out Yusei's helmet. "Take it for a spin! Let's find out what it can do!"

Their celebration was short lived as a bright light shone from the crack above them. They looked up to see a helicopter. "What's that?!" Tank asked.

"Oh no! It's sector Security!" Nirvin exclaimed.

"Identification number 8WX86007, you are in possession of stolen property. Escape is not an option." The officer in the helicopter ordered. "You're surrounded."

Nirvin, Tank, and Blitz, all looked to Rally, who looked at the ground angrily.

"Look what you did!" Blitz exclaimed, raising his fist in the air.

"I didn't do nothin'! I was tellin' the truth! It was lying on the ground!"

Yusei got between them before things could get worse. "It's going to be alright. You four will take the back way." Yusei explained, hacking the device the pilot was using and disrupting the feed. "I've bought you guys a couple minutes." He said, grabbing his helmet from Rally and putting it on, lowering the visor. "I'll take this chip out for a test drive." He turned the motorbike and shot up the stairs and into the moonlight, driving right passed a S.S. motorbike and car. The man on the bike smirked, lowering his visor.

"All eyes on me. I found the perpetrator. Issuing pursuit." The officer said before driving after Yusei, the car and helicopter right behind him.

Yusei scowled as he looked back. _Damn… I didn't expect them to get on me that fast…_ He thought. After a few minutes, he pulled into an open garage, stopping and turning toward the Security officer as he got off his motorbike.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Yusei. I should've put you in the prison years ago." He said smugly. Yusei frowned, but didn't say anything for a moment.

"Trudge, I challenge you to a duel. If I win, you let me and Rally go." Yusei said finally.

"The Sector Security doesn't bargain with criminals—" One officer said, but was stopped by Trudge.

"And what's in it for me if I agree?" Trudge asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow.

The officer turned to him. "But Article 4B clearly states that—"

"Well allow me to clearly state this." Trudge cracked his knuckles. "Get moving or else." He ordered.

"But sir, this is highly improper!"

Trudge glared down at him. "I said move. Or would you rather be working on trash detail?" He threatened.

The officer turned to the others. "Back to headquarters. Direct orders."

Yusei and Trudge stared each other down as the car and helicopter left, leaving the two rivals. That's when Yusei continued,

"Well, should you accept and win, you tell Sector Security to call off their hunt for Rally."

"And what's in it for me if I do? How will that benefit me?"

"Because I'll say it was me who stole the chip. And that I tried to flee the scene but couldn't outrun your pursuit. A statement like that would probably bump you up to Sergeant." _Though that won't happen. I won't get caught until I get revenge…_ Yusei thought to himself. "So what do you say, officer?"

"You've got yourself a deal." Trudge accepted, getting back onto his ride. "Idiot," he muttered. The two lined up, facing the outside. They lowered their visors. "Here we go. I'll activate the field spell." Trudge said, pushing a button on his vehicle.

" _Duel mode engaged."_ The screen said, _"Autopilot activated."_

"Let's ride!"

—

"How do you think Yusei's doing?" Rally asked as they ran into another hideout, panting.

"He'll be fine. Don't worry, Rally. He hasn't gotten caught and he won't get caught if he's really passionate about what he's doing." Blitz answered, trying to comfort the child. They sighed and went into their hideout, a house.

"I think we should check up on Shinji." Rally suggested.

Blitz, Nirvin, and Tank all frowned and looked at each other.

"I don't know… Nothing has changed…" Blitz started.

"And besides, Yusei and you are the only ones who visit her." Nirvin crossed his arms angrily. "I know I still don't forgive her for what she did. She shouldn't have done it."

"But she saved Yusei!" Rally exclaimed, shutting the boys up as he ranted. "If she didn't push Yusei out of the way, Yusei would be in her situation!"

"If she didn't betray us and help Jack, then none of it would have happened!" Nirvin shot back in anger. The two glared at each other in anger. "We're still not sure why you guys bother checking up on her. I'd say she's a lost cause."

That set Rally off. "Well maybe if you guys would just visit her for once you'd realize how bad off she really is! She hasn't woken up since what happened and Yusei and I have to take care of her because you three won't find it in yourselves to forgive her!" The three stared in shock at the boy's outburst. "She was hurt by Jack just like Yusei was! We all saw how he double-crossed her! She's just as much a victim as the rest of us!" Rally breathed heavily, angrily staring at the other boys. Rally looked down. "If you don't want to see her, fine. But I'm going!" With that, he turned and ran off.

—

Yusei drove passed Trudge, finally winning the duel. _Good… Now hopefully he'll leave us alone for a while…_ He thought to himself. He looked down to check the time on his Duel Runner. He turned a corner and drove faster, moving toward a small house. He screeched to a halt inside a garage. Turning off his Duel Runner, he took off his helmet.

"Yusei! You're here!" Yusei turned to see Rally running toward him.

"Hey Rally. Where are the others?"

Rally frowned. "They refused to come, as usual." Yusei sighed sadly and put his helmet down.

"We can't do much about that. It's their decision to stay away." Yusei said solemnly as he turned and walked into the house. Rally walked in with him and closed the door behind him. He and Rally walked down a staircase and stopped at a bookshelf. They pushed the bookshelf to the side and opened a hidden door. They walked into the dark room. "Rally."

"Right." Rally walked over to a light switch and turned it on. The light flickered a couple times before shining brightly, illuminating the room. The walls and floor were gray, and the room itself was small. Yusei and Rally looked sadly at the only inhabitant of the room: a girl with messy, mediam-lengthed black hair under a pure white blanket, asleep. Yusei pulled up a chair next to her bed and sat down, staring sadly at the corpse-like body. She was in her regular clothing, but they didn't fit her anymore. She was thinner, her body pale. This is what happens when you're being taken care of by two orphan boys on a poor island.

"Hey Yusei?" Rally asked, getting Yusei's attention. "When do you think she'll wake up…?"

Yusei shook his head. "I don't know. Hopefully, it's soon."

"I hope so too… But…"

"But what?"

"I just… w-well…" Rally looked down. "What if she doesn't remember us?"

"What do you mean?"

"She hit her head pretty hard when she was slammed into the wall, right? And she was hit by debris. She might not remember us…" He stopped when Yusei's shoulders shook. He frowned. "Yusei…?"

"…Don't think like that, Rally… She has to remember. She _needs_ to remember. After all," He looks at her, "I need to know what happened. And why Jack threw her away just like the rest of us." He looked back down at the girl on the bed, oblivious to the tear he shed.


	2. How we met

_A girl sat next to a tree, her legs bent up and wrapped by her small arms in a futile attempt to keep herself warm. It was winter, and she had just been kicked out of her foster home, again. The girl's hair was pitch black and went down to her knees, but right now it was sprawled out on the snow patch she sat in. She was wearing a dress made from a light brown rag that went down to a little under her knees, the bottom tattered and filled with holes. Her feet were bare, and her eyes were lifeless. In one hand was a deck of Duel Monster cards she's had since forever. It was the one piece of her true family she had, though she didn't know who they were. All she knew was that the cards in her deck were rare and very powerful._

 _The girl sniffled, tears threatening to pool from her eyes, though none came out. It was as though she was incapable of crying. The last few families she had been taken to called her crying annoying and forced her to shut up, so now she had a phobia of crying. She told herself she'd be strong, and locked most emotions that would get her in trouble away. She couldn't deal with it._

 _She lifted her eyes slightly and looked at the snow that started to fall. She gripped the deck tighter, moving it between her legs and chest so as to keep it from getting ruined._

 _Suddenly, her ears perked up when she heard multiple pairs of footsteps. She gave in to curiosity, and looked toward the noise. She saw three boys playing in the snow, a boy with blonde hair, a boy with orange hair, and a boy with black and yellow hair. The girl tilted her head slightly with a frown, never seeing those boys before. She could hear their conversation as they got closer._

" _C'mon Jack, let's build a snowman!" the boy with black and yellow hair said in excitement, turning to the blonde boy with a grin._

" _I'm not building a snowman…" he said with a frown._

" _Jack, don't be a stick in the mud!" the orange-haired boy sighed in exasperation._

 _The girl tilted her head slightly, her eyes focused on the blonde boy._

 _Jack shivered. "You alright?" the Black-haired boy asked._

" _I'm fine, Yusei." Jack replied, looking around, "Do you guys know the feeling you get when someone is watching you?"_

" _Yeah," the others answered._

" _Well I feel that now," Jack frowned uneasily._

" _It's probably nothing," Orangey said, waving it off. He grabbed a bunch of snow, pack it into a ball, and threw it at Jack. Jack dodged and fired back at him, thus going into a spiral of fighting._

 _The girl decided that now would be as good a time as any to make her escape. She slowly started to stand, wincing at the pain in her right leg as she moved. She sighed and started limping away from the tree and the boys. She was almost gone when she put too much pressure on the leg and yelped in pain as she fell to the ground, making a thud noise. This caught the boys' attention and they all looked at her with faces of shock and a bit of curiosity. The girl opened her eyes and they instantly widened at the sight of her cards scattered about from her fall. She quickly sat up. And immediately regretted that as a searing pain shot through her leg, making her scream and fall to her side, clenching the leg tightly as if it would make the pain disappear._

 _The three boys looked at each other, not sure what to do, when they heard her scream. They looked to see her curled up body. The blonde-haired boy was the first to react, running toward the girl. The other boys called for him, but he ignored them and yelled back, "Get Martha!" he shouted over his shoulder. He heard their footsteps lighten as he reached the frail girl. He took a moment to examine her._

 _Her body was deathly pale compared to her black hair. Her eyes were shut in pain, and from the expression she had her leg wasn't sprained. He looked at the two hands clutching at her leg, almost drawing blood. He looked at her and spoke calmly, though on the inside he was scared. "Listen to me, I know it hurts, but you need to move your hands so I can see the damage," he told her, "Can you do that?" The girl opened her eyes and looked at him. His eyes widened at the lifeless silver orbs. The girl frowned and shook her head, gripping even tighter to her leg, causing her to whimper. He grabbed her wrists quickly, making her jump in shock. "Stop," he said sternly, "You'll hurt yourself even more if you do that. Don't worry. I'm not here to hurt you."_

 _The girl looked scared. Very, very scared. Finally, she released her leg and allowed him to move the dress up slightly to see the damage. His eyes widened at the large bruise that nearly took up the entire leg, and it was even darker in the middle of her lower leg. "Oh god…" he whispered, eyes wide in horror. The girl started to whimper, and Jack's eyes widened at what she had said._

"… _My cards…" she whispered, reaching out weakly to her cards scattered about. "I want… my cards…" Jack looked around and saw the cards as well._

" _You're a duelist…" he whispered mostly to himself, but didn't get to say anything more when he heard shouts from his friends._

" _Jack!"_

" _Jack! We're back!"_

 _Jack turned his head to them, seeing a large woman behind them also running. The stopped when they were next to him. Yusei looked at her with a concerned frown. "What happened?"_

" _I don't know…" Jack admitted before his eyes grew dark, "But someone broke her leg and hurt it quite badly."_

 _The woman kneeled down to the girl and gently picked her up, but the girl didn't react. "She must have passed out," the woman said with a frown._

" _Will she be alright, Martha?" The orange-haired boy asked._

 _Martha smiled sadly. "I am not so sure yet, but don't worry, Crow," she said, and started walking away. The boys were about to follow when Jack called for them._

" _What's up?" Yusei asked._

" _Help me pick her cards up," Jack asked, starting to pick a few up._

" _Huh? She's a duelist?" Crow asked, looking confused, "She didn't seem like one…"_

" _Maybe she is, maybe she isn't. The important thing is that she has cards and they are very important to her."_

" _How do you know, Jack?"_

" _Because before you got here, the only thing she could get out of her mouth besides gasps of pain and whimpers were talk about not wanting to be separated with these cards."_

 _The three boys frowned at each other before continuing to pick up the cards. Finally, they got it all settled and put them together. "There. That's all of them," Crow said with a smile._

" _Good. Now let's head back," Yusei said._

" _Right."_

—

" _Martha, we're back!" Yusei and Crow yelled as they ran into the house, Jack following behind them._

" _I'm in here!" Martha yelled from her room. The boys looked at each other before walking into the room. They frowned when they saw the girl with more bandages on her arms and legs than just her leg._

" _Will she be alright?" Yusei asked._

" _Hopefully. I'm shocked she's still alive, really. The cold should have killed her." Martha frowned. She turned to the boys, "Do any of you know why she was out there?" The boys shook their heads._

" _Nope."_

" _No."_

" _Crow and I went to get you when we saw her."_

" _I see…" Martha sighed, turning to the pale-as-a-snowman girl. "She's very pale, and looks so thin it's like she hasn't eaten in days!"_

" _Wherever she lived before must not have cared for her all that well…" Jack said with a thoughtful look, "If she even has a family at all."_

 _Martha turned to them quickly. "Alright. I will have one of you boys stay with her, alright? When she wakes up, get me," she instructed. The boys nodded and looked at each other, not knowing which would want to stay with her. Finally, Jack spoke up._

" _I'll watch her, Martha," he volunteered. "I'm the one who found her and tried to help. She might trust me more," he pointed out. Martha nodded and ushered the two boys out._

" _Alright. Thank you, Jack," Martha smiled as she closed the door behind her._

 _Jack turned to the mystery girl, a frown etched onto his face. "Who are you…?" he asked quietly to himself, gripping her deck of cards in one hand tightly._

—

 _Jack sat in the room for a couple days, getting food and company at random times. This time, he, Crow, and Yusei were all finalizing their decks._

" _Alright! My deck is done!" Yusei smiled, holding it up. Crow frowned._

" _Man you're so lucky… My monsters aren't nearly as cool as Stardust Dragon…" he withered, looking at his monsters sadly. Jack just rolled his eyes and put his deck back together._

" _Ngh…"_

 _The three boys froze, their eyes wide. They turned toward the bed to see the girl starting to move. "Hey, she's waking up!" Crow smiled, only to get bonked on the head by Jack._

" _Don't be so loud," he scolded. Crow frowned but didn't say anything._

 _The girl's eyes fluttered open, wincing at the lighting in the room. Her eyes were silver, and the three boys noticed at once that they held little to no life in them. The boys looked at each other uncertainly. Jack sighed and walked over to her, making his footsteps louder so as to not scare her._

 _She quickly turned to the boy with slightly wide eyes, the only thing in them being fear. Jack frowned and stopped right by her bed. He gently placed a hand on her arm where there was no bandage, making her flinch from the contact. "Don't worry," he said calmly and softly, "We're not here to hurt you. We're here to help you." At the mention of 'we', the girl turned her head to see the other two, smiling kindly. She looked at Jack, her fear diminishing, but still there. "My name is Jack," he gestured to himself, then pointed at the other two, "That's Yusei, and Crow."_

" _Hey!"_

" _Whaddup?"_

" _What's your name?" Jack asked her, their eyes meeting. It was silent for a moment, then she spoke._

" _S-Shin…ji…" her voice was raspy and it seemed like she hadn't used it in days. Jack turned to Yusei._

" _Yusei, can you get Shinji a cup of water?" Yusei nodded and went out of the room. He turned to Crow, "And can you get Martha?" he also nodded and left. Jack turned back to Shinji, who was looking around warily._

" _W-wh…ere… am… I?"_

" _You're in our home. It's an orphanage."_

 _Shinji's eyes widened and she started to frantically try to get out of bed, whimpering in pain. Jack quickly held her down. "Calm down," he said, looking directly into her eyes, "You're safe here. Like I said, we're not here to hurt you. We found you in the cold with a bad leg and hypothermia."_

 _Shinji looked down. "…Oh…"_

 _Jack sighed, "Just be careful. Like I said, we won't hurt you."_

" _Jack, I got the water," Yusei said as he walked in, handing it to Jack. He then looked at Shinji with a smile and a wave of the hand. "Hi there! Glad you're awake! It's been a couple days."_

 _Shinji gulped down the water, loving the feeling as it went down her throat. She sighed and cleared her throat, then looked at Yusei. "Th-thank you…" she whispered, still a bit shy and untrusting. She started to get up again, but was stopped when Martha whacked her head. Shinji looked at the large woman with frightened and confused eyes. She smiled softly at the child._

" _Don't move, alright? You're still hurt a lot." Shinji frowned, realizing she was right and that she could barely move, let alone stand. She looked down sadly._

 _Yusei seemed to realize why she was sad and smiled. "Don't worry, Shinji!" he exclaimed, getting her attention, "Crow, Jack, and I will keep you company!" Shinji's eyes widened, but quickly went back to being downcast._

" _B-but…" she started, trying to figure out what to say, "I-I'm a… bur…burden…" The four others frowned at each other, then at her. "I… am a f-freak… I c-can…" she started to say, then her eyes widened and she looked around frantically. "M-my c-cards!"_

" _It's alright," Jack interrupted her, holding it out, "We got them all. These monsters are pretty cool. They're never used anymore." Shinji took the deck and looked through it, sighing in relief, then looked at Jack, then Yusei, then Crow._

" _Th… Thank you…" she smiled faintly, but it disappeared quickly._

" _Where did you get the cards?" Jack asked, looking at her deck. Shinji frowned._

" _Don't know…" she whispered, "I don't… remember… before…" she shuddered, tears threatening to fall but she held them back. She always did._

 _Jack frowned at her. "Before what?" She just shook her head, not wanting to tell them yet._

—

 _The next few months of living with the boys in the orphanage was nice for Shinji. This was the first place she felt truly happy in, with true friends. She had healed faster than expected. She was still very shy toward others, not trusting anyone besides Jack, Yusei, Crow, and Martha. She didn't trust Kalin, knowing something was wrong with him, though she couldn't point it out. She talked more and more to her three best friends, opening up to them and being herself more. She still had yet to tell them why she was outside in the freezing cold that day they found her, but they knew she would tell them when she was ready._

 _Right now, Jack, Yusei, and Crow were with Kalin. He had finally gotten them to separate from Shinji and hang out with him. Shinji was sad, but still put on a smile and told them it was okay._

 _Deciding to go for a walk, she walked out of the orphanage. She was a few streets from the orphanage when multiple boys walked up to her. She looked up at them and her eyes widened. She slowly tried to back up, right into a wall._

" _Hey, don't worry kid," one boy snickered, walking closer. He was the leader of the group._

" _W-what d-do you… want?" she asked nervously, stumbling over her words as they got even closer._

" _You're a friend of Yusei and Jack, right?" Shinji gulped, frozen._

" _You see, we had challenged them to a duel and they beat us," the third boy started._

" _So naturally we'd want a bit of revenge," the second spoke up, a smirk on his face. Shinji paled, her eyes wide in horror and her hands shaking at what they were implying. She backed up against the wall as much as she could, but it didn't help. Then she turned to run. Her eyes widened as one of the boys grabbed her long black hair and yanked it harshly, throwing her to another boy. The leader of the group punched her to the ground, making her cry out in pain as she hit the pavement. The boy laughed at her._

" _Let's see how your little boyfriends will fair when they see you!" Shinji's eyes dilated as much as possible._

—

" _Beat ya again, Kalin!" Yusei exclaimed, laughing. Kalin sighed as he shuffled his deck._

" _You're as good as always, Yusei."_

 _Jack stood in the sidelines with Crow, frowning at Kalin. "Kalin," he called._

" _What's up?" Kalin responded, him and Yusei walking over to them._

" _Why don't you like Shinji?" he asked, "I mean, she's pretty nice."_

 _Kalin sighed. "I don't know… It's just…"_ You guys always hang out with her… It's always her. You never hang out with me anymore… _he thought bitterly. He was about to speak more when an ear-splitting scream echoed throughout Satellite._

 _The boys looked around then at each other in shock. "What was that?" Crow asked._

 _Jack's eyes widened even more. "Shinji…" he whispered. Yusei and Crow's eyes widened and all four of them booked it to where the scream came from._

—

 _Shinji screamed as she was once again kicked in the ribs, her body rolling a couple times on the pavement before finally halting her on her stomach. She coughed out blood and slowly stood._

" _I'm surprised. You're still conscious. Not to mention you're trying to stand," one of the boys complimented. Shinji stood, placing a hand on the wall for support. "But don't worry, your pain won't be able to be felt for much longer."_

 _Shinji's bangs shadowed her eyes, blood dripping from her head and glowing eerily. "Jason, we'd better finish this. Jack and Yusei probably heard her banshee scream," one of the boys said._

" _Alright," Jason, the leader, answered, walking up to her and cracking his knuckles with a sickening smirk on his face. "Then once we're done here, we'll go after her boyfriends." Shinji lifted her head to look at him when he said that, and he was shocked frozen. "W-what…?" The other boys also saw and started backing away._

" _W-what are you?!" one of them screamed._

 _Shinji's eyes were bright gold, glowing like the red blood on her body. She felt her body heat up, her heart pumping faster from adrenaline. "You… will not… lay a hand… on my_ _ **friends**_ _!" she screamed that last part, her hair slowly rising. The boys started to back away, and they saw something behind her. They looked up._

 _Behind her was a Duel Monster spirit, but one only told from legends. This monster was a serpentine-like dragon, with two large wings, two arms, and two legs. It had two rows of spikes going down its blood-red back, and it opened its lower mouth, roaring in anger at the boys. They screamed and ran for their lives, running passed the four friends who had just seen the dragon, and what had just happened._

 _Shinji had turned away before she noticed them. She heard footsteps and turned quickly to scream at the boys more, then froze. Her eyes widened when she saw Jack, Crow, Yusei, and Kalin staring in shock at her appearance and the dragon behind her. None of them knew what to do for a while, when suddenly…_

" _Monster!" Kalin screamed, pointing at her and making her flinch, her eyes going back to a gray color and the dragon disappearing. "I knew there was something wrong with you! You… you MONSTER!"_

" _KALIN!" Jack exclaimed, shutting the other boy up. Jack turned to Shinji, and was shocked to see her crying. She had never cried before then. "Shinji—" he couldn't say anymore when Shinji ran right passed them, going a random direction, her tears foliowing like a trail. Jack stood shocked, his hand outstretched to where she was just standing._

" _Shinji…" Yusei frowned, looking to where she had run off. He and Jack ignored the raging fight between Kalin and Crow over what just transpired. Jack stood next to Yusei, frowning. "We need to go after her…" He took a step forward, but was stopped by Jack._

" _She needs time alone," he said. Yusei shook his head._

" _Jack, that's the last thing she needs right now," he sighed. With that, he ran in Shinji's direction. Jack sighed and followed, knowing his friend was right._

—

 _Jack and Yusei, after running around for a while, finally found Shinji in the park by the tree they first found her at. The two looked at each other and walked over carefully. They could hear what she was whispering._

" _It's not my fault… I didn't mean it… please don't hurt me… I'm not a monster… I promise I'll be good… please…"_

Oh Shinji… _the two boys thought, frowning at the sight in front of them. Finally, Jack walked over and lay a hand on her shoulder, making her jump but not turn around. "Shinji…—"_

" _G-go away…" her voice was broken, "Y-you heard Kalin… I-I'm a—"_

" _No, you're not." She turned to see Yusei standing next to her with Jack kneeling next to her. Her tears had stopped, but inside she wanted to explode._

" _But—"_

" _Enough!" Jack scowled, "You're not a stupid monster! Just because people call you that doesn't automatically make you one!" Shinji's eyes widened._

" _Jack's right. You're not a monster." Yusei put a comforting hand on her other shoulder, a smile on his face._

 _Shinji looked at them in shock, then smiled sadly, hugging the both of them tightly. "T-thank you…"_

 _The boys smiled at each other, happy they could cheer her up._

" _Um… Yusei?"_

" _Hm?" he responded, looking at her questioningly._

 _Shinji fidgeted. "I… remember when you told me you were going to try and make a duel runner?"_

" _Yeah?"_

" _Well… I'm kinda good with mechanics… Can I try and help?" she asked, looking at him pleadingly. Jack and Yusei shared another look before Yusei smiled at her._

" _Of course you can!" he exclaimed happily. She smiled happily and hugged them._

" _Thank you!"_


	3. Valentine's Day

_Today was Valentine's Day, and the orphanage was colored in reds and pinks and whites, with heart shaped balloons and ribbons. This was the day where many of the girls would surround Jack, giving him different presents. Yusei and Crow could swear they saw their eyes turn to hearts when Jack thanked them. Of course, there were others girls that gave presents to other boys, even Yusei, Crow, and Kalin. Today was a day filled with puppy love, happiness, and cake. However, not everyone was happy on this day._

 _Shinji, age 10, sat at a table far from Jack and the others, trying her hardest to avoid the girls and the blonde. She looked different now. She had short hair, having cut it due to the summer heat, and a black ball cap. She wore a navy blue jacket and blue jeans, with brown boots like Yusei's. She stared sadly at her lap, gripping the rectangular gift box she had made herself tightly. It was a small box, but it held something she would have thought he would like. Although, the many times she tried to give it to him, some other girl would get in the way…_

 _She looked up and saw Jack alone. Her eyes brightened. Now was her chance. She stood up and walked timidly over to her friend. Yusei, Crow, and Kalin looked at her. It was pretty obvious to them that she had a crush on Jack. Despite the fact that every other girl liked Jack, they felt her feelings were genuine. And that she wasn't an everyday fangirl. Yusei and Crow watched her carefully as Kalin sipped on his drink. They saw the gift she hid behind her and smiled. Shinji stopped next to Jack. "U-um… Jack?" she asked, getting his attention._

" _What is it, Shinji?" he asked. Shinji was about to pull out the box when…_

" _Hey Jack!" The two friends looked over to see a girl in a pink dress and brown curly hair run over and latch herself onto Jack's arm. "Come on, let's play!" she exclaimed._

" _Sure!" Jack smiled. He walked off with her, completely ignoring Shinji, who had wide, hurt-filled eyes. Yusei and Crow frowned at each other, then looked to Shinji._

" _Hey Shinji!" Crow called, making her look over at them. "Come on over! The cake's great!" he exclaimed, holding his cake-filled plate up. Shinji nodded and sat down next to Yusei, still looking down. Yusei frowned._

" _Shinji, cheer up," he said, nudging her lightly, "You'll give him your present and he will love it. Trust me." Shinji looked at her friend sadly, then looked back down. "O-okay…"_

 _For the rest of the day, Shinji would try to get to Jack. But once again, she was always interrupted and forgotten. This made her feel worse, almost to the point of crying. But she didn't. She didn't want Jack to feel guilty for making her cry. She wanted him to be happy and have fun. It was Valentine's Day, after all._

 _It was late at night, and Jack was still playing with the girls, and talking to Yusei, Crow, and Kalin. They were all laughing and eating cake and dancing. Except for one person… I'll give you two guesses._

 _Martha walked out of the kitchen, clapping her hands. "Dinner is ready!" The children cried out in joy and rushed to the kitchen. Martha chuckled at their antics and looked around. She frowned when she saw Shinji sitting at a table in the corner, looking down and swinging her legs, her hat's visor blocking her eyes. Martha sighed and sat down next to the child, rubbing her back. "What's wrong, Shinji? Why aren't you playing with your friends?" she asked softly. Shinji shook her head, not saying anything. This worried Martha. Shinji would always come to her when something was wrong. "Shinji?" She looked down at saw the present clasped tightly in her hands. She saw the name written on it, and sighed. "Oh Shinji…"_

 _Shinji's shoulders shook, but she couldn't cry. She wouldn't._

" _You know, Shinji," said girl looked up at Martha, "I'm sure Jack would be happy to talk to you now." Shinji frowned, already having lost all hope of this working. "Come on, you have one more chance." She looked down, then nodded. She stood, a nervous feeling in her stomach, which wasn't a good sign usually, but she didn't want to pass this up. It was now or never…_

 _Shinji stood, nodded a thank you to Martha, and walked over to Jack's table, where he sat with Yusei and the others. Yusei looked up._

" _Shinji? Where have you been? I've— We've been worried!" Yusei said with a frown._

" _I'm s-sorry…" she whispered. She looked over to Jack and timidly put a hand on his shoulder. "Um… J-Jack?"_

 _Jack glared at her, making her retract her hand. "What is it?" he asked coldly, shocking the rest. "You've been pestering me the entire day! Can't you see I'm busy talking? Don't be so rude and wait until I'm done!"_

" _I-I'm sorry, I—"_

" _And another thing, stop trying to keep me from having fun!" Now Shinji was confused. When did she try to stop him?_

" _W-what do you mean… Jack?" she asked, feelings of helplessness washing over her. "I just—"_

" _You've been trying to keep my away from everyone else! Stop being selfish! I hang out with you almost every day! Can't you see that I sometimes get sick of it and want to hang around other people?" Shinji's eyes slowly widened in pain as he kept talking, each word like a thousand knives piercing her heart. "Just let me have one day to myself without you attaching yourself to me! I know I'm awesome, but let someone else hang out with me!" He looked at his drink and mumbled without thinking, "Monster."_

" _JACK!" Yusei and Crow yelled, stopping Jack's rant. Even Kalin was shocked, and he barely even liked Shinji._

 _Jack looked at them. "What?!" He froze when he heard a hiccup. He looked over to see Shinji, her eyes wide in despair, tears no longer held back as they came out full force. Tears streamed down her cheeks like rivers, falling to the floor. "Shinji?" He looked down to her hands and saw a small box wrapped perfectly in white and silver paper. Her hands were shaking, making the box join in. Some of the tears hit the box._ Oh God… _He thought. He mentally hit himself for calling her a monster. That thing that appeared a long time ago… it didn't appear after that. And it's been so long since anyone has seen that kind of creature that many don't know what exactly it was. All Jack knows, however, is that he made one of the biggest mistakes of his life._

 _Shinji dropped the box and took a step back from the frozen Jack. Yusei realized what she was about to do and stumbled out of his seat, stretching his hand out to grab her. "Shinji!" Shinji quickly turned around so her arm grazed Yusei's hand, and she bolted toward the door._

" _Shinji!" Crow shouted, getting Martha and the other childrens' attention. Martha ran out into the room as Shinji burst the door open and ran out into the cold night._

" _Shinji!" Martha said, running to the door and stopping, calling out. "Shinji! Get back here!" she yelled out in worry at Shinji's silhouette, before it disappeared. Martha's shoulders sagged, and the room was quiet._

 **SMACK!**

 _Everyone turned to where the noise came from, and were shocked. Yusei had smacked Jack, making his head turn. Jack's eyes were wide with shock still, and Yusei's were burning with anger. "Yusei?" One asked in fright._

" _How DARE you!" Yusei yelled to Jack, "You tell her to give you one day to yourself? One day?! She did that! The only reason she was trying to find you was to give you a present! A present you damn well don't deserve to have!" Martha gasped._

" _Yusei!" she exclaimed, but Yusei ignored her. He grabbed Jack's collar and pulled him closer to stare into his eyes, boiling with rage._

" _You think she did all of that just to annoy the hell out of you? Well now, you're a bigger idiot than I thought! Newsflash, Jack! She has a crush on you!"_

 _Jakc was shaking, but tried to hide it, "So? All the other girls do—"_

 _Yusei head-butted him, making Jack yelp in pain. "Don't you dare say that! Shinji would do anything for you! She, a ten year old girl, worked in the factories with tons of older people for_ five months _just so she could buy you a present she knew you'd love! She came home with cuts and bruises from working, and even a broken wrist at one point because she tripped while carrying a crate of boxes!" Jack remembered that. She had it bandaged for weeks, but she just said she fell down the stairs. He also knew she wasn't around that often for these past few months, but didn't think anything of it. Then the question came to mind…_

" _Why didn't she tell me?" Jack asked, "Why did she tell you guys and not me?"_

 _Yusei looked down, still angry. "She wanted it to be a surprise. We knew what she was doing and even tried to get her to stop. We wanted her to be safe, and said that some chocolates or whatever would be fine. But do you know what she said?" his glare bore into Jack's eyes. "She said she would do anything for you. Even getting her bones broken for a stupid present!" he gripped his collar slightly, his body shaking. Crow decided to take over._

" _She got the three of us a box of chocolates. Even Kalin, who she hated, was given a present." he sighed. "We all got small gifts, Jack. One that could be bought with a small allowance. But you… you're special to her." He glared angrily at his friend, though not as angrily as Yusei. "You said she always annoyed you, huh? You said you were sick of hanging around with her, right?" Jack was silent. "WELL?!" Jack flinched, and nodded hesitantly, remembering what he had said just a few moments ago. Crow sighed and closed his eyes. "Then you've made a huge mistake, Jack." With that, he turned and walked up the stairs into his room, closing the door. Kalin frowned, but went up with him. Jack turned to Yusei, who was still seething. Yusei finally pushed Jack away, making him stumble._

" _Yusei, I—" Yusei turned and walked away without another word. Jack shook in fear and shock, his eyes wide. After a moment, he set his eyes on the small box still wrapped and on he ground. He bent down and picked it up, and sat down. He placed the box on the table and stared at it for a good hour, not knowing whether to open it or not. The words Yusei and Crow said bored into his skull. He knew what he did was wrong. He knew he shouldn't have acted like that. So he knows he shouldn't have this gift. He doesn't even deserve to know what it is. He sighed and closed his eyes, about to stand and walk away._

" _You should open it." Jack jumped and turned quickly to see Martha, standing a few feet away. Jack frowned and looked down._

" _I don't deserve it… after what I did… What if she never comes back? What if she gets hurt?" His eyes widened, "What if—" He stopped when he felt a hand on his shoulder, and he looked at Martha sadly._

" _She got this gift for you. It would be a waste to never open it." she said softly. Jack sniffled._

" _B-but…" he didn't know what to say. He had never been in this kind of situation. He wanted to cry, he wanted to scream, he wanted to punch something… All these emotions raced through his head._

" _Don't worry, Jack. If she doesn't want you to have it, she can just take it back," Martha said softly. Jack, after a few moments, nodded and turned back to the box. He slowly and carefully untied the bow, then ripped up the paper, revealing a small cardboard box. He took a deep breath and looked at Marha unsurely. After a quick nod, Jack opened the box._

 _His eyes widened at the lone item in his possession._ No way…

 _Almost a week has passed after Valentine's Day. Yusei and Crow were avoiding Jack like the plague. Kalin was ignoring him as well, not liking what Jack had done. Jack sat alone, staring out a window with a frown, his chin on his hand._

" _She still hasn't come back…" Jack overheard Crow, and he looked at them through the corner of his eyes, wondering what they were talking about._

 _Yusei looked down sadly and angrily, clenching his fists. "Jack went too far. This is all his fault!"_

" _I hope she's alright…" Crow whispered sadly. Kalin frowned._

" _Even if we're not friends, I worry about her too… A little girl shouldn't be out alone in Satellite… Who knows what could happen?"_

 _Jack eyes slowly widened as he heard their conversation. Shinji… they were talking about Shinji! Of course, he had known she was gone, and he was feeling more and more guilty. He looked back outside and frowned, seeing dark clouds up in the sky. His eyes narrowed slightly as he remembered what Shinji had said one day._

 _ **~FLASHBACK (INSIDE A FLASHBACK)~**_

Shinji, Jack, Crow, and Yusei were running around the yard, playing tag. They hadn't met Kalin yet. They were on their fourth game, with Yusei being it. Shinji ran around before she slowly came to a stop, looking up at the sky. "Huh…?" She saw the dark clouds forming over her head. and a worried look crossed her face. She jumped as she felt someone hit her.

"You're it!" Yusei exclaimed with a laugh. He ran off as she held her arm out.

"W-wait…!" she said, worry in her voice. She jumped when thunder boomed, scaring her. She looked around. "Jack…?" she asked, looking around for him. They had all hid. "Crow…? Yusei…?" she started walking, her hands shaking. Thunder boomed once again, and tears formed in her eyes. She started running around for them. "Jack! Crow! Yusei!" she cried out as it started raining.

Jack, who had heard her, ran out of hiding and saw her crying. "Shinji?" he called out. His eyes widened as a bolt of lightning nearly hit her, making her scream. "SHINJI!" The other boys heard this and raced over.

Shinji saw Jack and more tears swelled up. She ran full force at him and hugged him tightly, nearly knocking the wind out of him. He looked down at her before hugging her tightly. "Jack… I don't like storms… I don't like the loud booms… The loud booms took mommy and daddy from me…" Jack frowned sadly, hugging her closer.

After all of them reunited, they ran back to Martha's to calm the small child.

 _ **~FLASHBACK END~**_

 _His eyes widened and he quickly stood up, knocking his chair over and getting the attention of the three boys and Martha as he raced to the door. "And where do you think you're going?" Martha asked._

 _Jack looked at her. "I have to find Shinji!" The boys blinked at the desperation in his voice._

" _Why start now? Why didn't you do it three days ago, Jack?" Crow asked. Jack picked up a jacket and an umbrella and turned to them._

Right… they weren't there when she said that. _he thought. "Because," he turned to the door, "Shinji's terrified of thunder and storms."_

" _She is?"_

" _How would you know?"_

" _Because she told me! She said she was afraid of…" he gulped, "Of the loud boom that took her parents…" Yusei's eyes widened, and Crow was frozen._

" _You don't mean…" Kalin started._

" _The Incident… The same one that killed Yusei's parents, and mine, and all of ours." Everyone was shocked. Jack took this opportunity and ran out into the rain._

" _Jack!" He ignored their yells and went to find Shinji._

 _After a while, he heard a scream from a warehouse. "JAAAAACK!"_

 _Jack jumped at the scream, and his eyes widened. "Shinji!" he cried out, racing toward the warehouse. He kicked the doors down and looked inside. He stiffened._

 _Shinji was in the room, sitting in a corner, with her hands protecting her head as she tried not to cry. There were multiple men around her, all with smirks on their faces. One of them kicked her, making her yelp. "Shinji!" Jack yelled. The three guys looked at him, and Shinji looked up with sad eyes. She locked eyes with Jack for a moment before curling into a ball and hiding her face. Jack felt a pang in his heart, but ignored it. "Let her go!"_

" _Oh? Why would we do that?"_

 _Jack growled. "Then duel me! You win, you keep her and me. I win, you leave us alone!" Shinji's eyes widened but no one saw it. The leader laughed and stepped forward._

" _Alright, kid. You got yourself a deal!" Jack took out his duel disk and engaged the duel._

" _N-no… Jack…" Shinji said weakly, tears in her eyes, one leaving an falling down her cheek._

" _DUEL!"_

 _ **Jack: 8000**_

 _ **Leader: 8000**_

" _I'll go first." The man said, drawing a card. "Now, I summon Tune Warrior in defense mode!"_

 _(Tune Warrior - Atk: 1600 / Def: 200)_

 _Next I place two face-downs and end my turn." Two cards appeared in front of him. "Your move, kid."_

 _Jack scowled at being called a kid, but drew a card and looked at it. "I summon Archfiend Interceptor in attack mode!"_

 _(Archfiend Interceptor - Atk: 1400 / Def: 1600)_

" _Archfiend, attack Tune Warrior!" Archfiend Interceptor rushed forward and shattered the card. Jack grinned, but it was wiped off his face when the other man smirked._

" _I play a trap! Time machine." One of the cards flipped over. "This card allows me to special summon the monster you just destroyed back onto the field!" Tune Warrior appeared once again in defense position. Jack grit his teeth._

" _I place one face-down and end my turn."_

 _The duel went on for many minutes, but Jack was losing._

 _ **Jack: 3000**_

 _ **Leader: 4500**_

" _I's my turn! Draw!" He looked at the card he drew and a wicked grin crossed his face. "It's over, kid." Jack's eyes narrowed. "I play the spell, Change of Heart!"_

" _Oh no!" Shinji whispered in horror._

" _Now I'll take your Gene-Warped Warwolf. Next, I'll tune it with my Tune Warrior, to Synchro Summon X-Saber Urbellum!"_

 _(X-Saber Urbellum - Atk: 2200 / Def: 1300)_

 _Jack grit his teeth as he stared at the monster. "Now, X-Saber, destroy that punk!" The warrior rushed toward Jack, hitting him directly._

" _Jack!"_

" _Ngh!"_

 _ **Jack: 800**_

 _ **Leader: 4500**_

" _Not so tough now, are you?"_

" _Grr… My turn, draw!" Jack looked at the card, and grinned, then looked at his hand._ This is for you, Shinji… _"I play the spell card Double Summon! I don't think I need to explain. Unless you're as incompetent as I had first thought."_

" _Why you…"_

 _Jack smirked. "Now, I summon Mad Archfiend in attack mode! Then I also summon the Tuner monster, Trap Eater!"_

 _(Mad Archfiend - Atk: 1800 / Def: 0)_

 _(Trap Eater - Atk: 1900 / Def: 1600)_

" _Now, it's time…" The two monsters glowed brightly as they fused together. Jack looked at Shinji, who was staring in confusion. Nodding to himself, he looked at the Leader, determined to win. This card… This is the first time I will ever use it." His eyes narrowed as Shinji's eyes widened. "I won't let you hurt Shinji anymore! I will defeat you… with the card she gave me!"_

 _Shinji's eyes widened in shock. "Jack…"_

 _Jack raised his hand in the air as a beam of light shot down. "I Syncho Summon…!"_


	4. Saviors and Kalin

_**Jack: 800**_

 _ **Leader: 4500**_

 _Jack lifted his hand into the air as a bright light shot down. "I Synchro Summon… Red Dragon Archfiend!" The light expanded before turning pitch black. Two wings spread from the light, before it shattered completely, revealing a large black and red dragon with devil horns on its head, and an angry look on its face._

 _Shinji stared, wide eyed, at the dragon. "He used it…" she whispered. Somewhere deep inside her, she felt her heart start to piece itself back together._

" _W-what the hell is that?!" The leader asked in shock and panic, taking a step back in fear. Jack sent a hard glare at him._

" _A gift," he stated, before thrusting his hand out toward the man's monster, "Red Dragon Archfiend, destroy his monster!" Archfiend roared loudly before firing a blast of energy at the other's warrior, making it shatter completely._

" _Ngh!"_

 _ **Jack: 800**_

 _ **Leader: 3700**_

" _Tch. It'll take a lot more than that to finish me, boy!" The man growled as he drew a card. Smirking he set it, then a monster in defense position. "I end my turn."_

" _Heh. Piece of cake! I summon Smile Angel. Then I play Raigeki and destroy your card". The facedown card shattered, "Now Archfiend, destroy him!"_

" _Not so fast! I play a trap! Mirror Force!"_

" _What!?"_

" _That's right! Die!" A shield appeared around the Leader as the dragon rushed toward him._

" _JACK!"_

 _Jack stood there calmly, then smirked. I play the spell, Mystical Space Typhoon! And I destroy your mirror force!"_

" _NO!" He should as the shield shattered from the Typhoon. He cries out as he was attacked._

 _ **Jack: 800**_

 _ **Leader: 700**_

" _Oh, and I didn't forget about Smile Angel!" The girl rushed forward. "Finish him!"_

 _ **Jack: 800**_

 _ **Leader: 0**_

" _N-no way… how could I lose to a little kid like you…?" The man whispered. He was ignored, however, as Jack ran toward Shinji and knelt down next to her. His two goons grabbed their leader and ran._

" _Shinji, are you alright?" he asked, his hands overing over her since he didn't know if he would hurt her or not. Shinji looked at him strangely, and he reciprocated. "What?"_

" _You… came looking for me…" she whispered, "and… you used it… my gift." Jack frowned at her broken voice, then smiled softly and ruffled her short hair._

" _Of course I did. It was a gift from someone close to me." Shinji looked at him with wide, shocked eyes. Jack frowned sadly and looked down, his hand resting on her head. "Shinji, I… I didn't mean what I said to you. About you being a monster… and about me being sick of you. None o that was true. I'm sorry. I-I guess I was just caught up in the moment, and you know me I always love the spotlight, Martha said it would be what got me killed. But please listen when I say I really wasn't thinking, and I didn't mean to hut you, I—" He stopped rambling as Shinji suddenly shot forward and hugged him tightly, her face in his chest. He blinked at her._

" _I'm… glad… you liked your present, Jack," she said, "I guess you're wondering how I got it, huh?"_

" _No, Yusei and Crow told me. But you need to understand that factory work is serious! You could get hurt!" Shinji pulled back and sat back, looking down sadly with tears in her eyes._

" _But… it was perfect for you… I just thought…—" Her eyes widened and looked forward as Jack wrapped his arms around her, giving her a warm, but tight, hug. She looked at him and blinked in confusion. He gripped tighter._

" _Don't you ever say it was worth it… I appreciate the gift, but a trading card isn't worth your life… got it?" he asked, still hugging. Shinji could tell that he felt awkward, as he had never really hugged anyone before, and he was tense. She smiled faintly, happy that he cared, and wrapped her arms around him as well. She felt him relax._

'… _Got it…"_

 _They stayed in the warehouse that night, since Shinji didn't want to go out in the storm. They sat next to each other against the back wall, with Shinji's head on Jack's shoulder, and Jack's head on hers. Around midnight, Jack awoke to the loud boom of thunder and looked around. He felt Shinji shaking as she wrapped her arms around his tightly, her eyes shut tightly. Jack frowned._ She's shaking so much… _His eyes widened slightly when he heard her whimper as lightning illuminated the room. Jack wrapped an arm around her and brought her closer to try and comfort her. He felt awkward, but knew he should at least try to comfort her. He closed his eyes and put his head back on hers and slowly drifted back to sleep._

—

 _~Three Years Later~_

 _Shinji walked down from her room and into the kitchen to find something to eat. She grabbed a bowl of cereal and sat down, but her mind was too preoccupied to eat. Jack, Crow, Yusei, and Kalin were in some sort of team called The Enforcers. They told her they wanted to reunite all of Satellite. At the time, she had said to go for it, since she hated all the other gangs. But when she asked if she could join, they all said no. They didn't want her to get hurt, and frankly, none of them had seen her duel. They didn't know how good she was. She knew they were worried about her, but they could at least visit once in a while!_

 _Though, she understood why. She and Jack had gotten into a fight._

 _ **~FLASHBACK~**_

"Hey guys?"

"What's up, Shinji? Yusei asked. Shinji looked down nervously, twirling her fingers.

"U-um… I was wondering…"

"Spit it out, Shinji," Jack said impatiently. Shinji didn't mind, though. She knew he meant no harm.

"Well… I was wondering… if I could join the enforcers!" she looked at them pleadingly.

The four guys looked at each other uncertainly. Finally, Yusei spoke up.

"Sorry, Shinji, we—"

"We don't need someone who can't duel."

Shinji stared slack-jawed at Kalin. "Wha—"

"We haven't seen you duel yet. How should we know if you're even good?" Shinji looked down.

"Besides," Crow cut in, "We don't want you to get hurt. You're our friend, Shinji, and what we're doing is dangerous." he put a hand on her shoulder as she lowered her head.

"I understand…"

—

"Will you stop asking already?!"

"I keep asking because I want to help!"

"We'll you're not GOING to help! You'll just be a nuisance!"

"But I CAN duel!"

"Then duel me!"

"What!?"

"Right here, right now! Duel me, or get out!"

"Jack, calm do—" Yusei tried to cut in.

"I'm not dueling you, Jack! You're my friend!"

"There may come a time where you would need to duel one of us!"

"Then I won't!"

"Then you're weak!"

"I'm not weak!"

"Just go the hell away, Shinji!" Said girl turned angrily toward Kalin, who was glaring at her. "Jack is right, you're a nuisance, and a loud one at that. Besides, we have more than enough people."

She glared then turned back to Jack and opened her mouth to speak, but he beat her to it.

"Don't even try to ask again! Kalin is right. We've got enough people, and they're all strong. And you're…" Jack seemed to hesitate, "…you're just weak."

Shinji frowned, her shoulders slumping. Her heart stopped. The one she loved and cared for so much, the one who helped her all those years ago, had called her weak. Her hat's visor blocked her eyes from their view. "So… is that what I am to you? A weak, helpless little girl?" None of the boys answered, which was all she needed. "Fine then." She turned away and walked to the door. She opened it and stopped, turning her head slightly. "Let me just tell you one thing… I'm not a helpless little girl." With that, she shut the door, HARD.

 _ **~FLASHBACK END~**_

 _Sighing, she stood and decided to go for a walk. She walked slowly through the town, kicking a rock over and over ion the path._ Why won't they let me duel? Can't they see I want to help? Maybe… _Her thoughts were interrupted when the rock landed by someone's foot. She looked up, and saw Kalin in front of Sector Security. "Kalin?" she asked, walking over. Kalin looked over at her._

" _Shinji?"_

" _What are you doing here?" she asked. Kalin turned toward her._

" _I could ask you the same thing."_

 _Shinji's eye twitched. "Kalin, I'm serious. And where's Jack and the others?"_

 _He turned away. "At the hideout. They didn't want to help."_

" _Help you with what?" Her eyes narrowed._

" _I'm taking out Sector Security." he stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Shinji's eyes widened in shock._

" _You're doing what?!" she yelled, "Are you insane?!"_

" _The only ones insane are Yusei, Jack, and Crow!" he shouted at her, "We've gotten this far, but they won't finish the job! They're all weak!"_

" _Weak?!" Shinji squeaked, her eyes wide, "The only weak one here is you! You're an idiot, Kalin! You don't honestly expect to take out Sector Security on your own!" She gestured toward the building._

 _Kalin looked thoughtful, then grabbed her shoulders. "Then help me!"_

" _What?"_

" _You always said you wanted to help us get rid of the scum of Satellite!" he stated, desperately clinging to her and making her flinch._

" _Kalin… you're hurting me…"_

 _He ignored her, "Just help! You'll get what you wanted!" Shinji broke free and pushed him away._

" _I knew I didn't like you for a reason, Kalin! You're mad!" she told him. She ran forward and punched him in the face, making a large bruise on his cheek and making him stumble onto his back. She glared at him, then frowned at his expression as he stood. Kalin looked livid now. Each step Shinji took back, Kalin took two. "Kalin?" she asked, still taking steps away from him. "Kalin, s-stay away!" Despite hating him, she knew he was the friend of Jack and Yusei, and therefore didn't want to beat him into submission._

" _You won't keep me from this!" Kalin shouted as he lunged forward. Shinji rolled out of the way and started running, her eyes wide in fear. Kalin quickly turned and ran after her. He quickly caught up and tackled her to the ground, making her scream. "Shut up!" He pinned her down so she couldn't escape despite her thrashing._

" _Kalin, let me go!" she screamed. Kalin ignored her as he punched her in the cheek, making her head turn to the side._

" _Shut up!" he screamed, punching her once more, twice, three times._

" _JAAACK!" she screamed, tears in her eyes. Kalin gripped her neck with both hands, cutting off her air. She scratched his arms, trying to find a good grip to remove his hands, but her head was fogging up and spinning. "Jack…" she whispered, black spots clouding her vision. Her trashing became weaker, and a few tears started flowing as she stared at an angry Kalin. "…Please…" she pleaded weakly, which only made him grip harder. Neither of them noticed the strange red and black tattoo of a dragon in the shape of an 'S' on her left shoulder blade. "JAAAAAAAAACK!"_

 _ **BOOM!**_

—

" _Kalin's going too far…" Yusei admitted sadly, his arms crossed as he leaned against the wall of their hideout. He was looking down angrily._

" _Shouldn't we try to stop him?" Crow asked._

" _This is his fault. If he wants to get himself killed, then let him."_

" _Jack…" Crow frowned._

" _JAAACK!" They froze and looked at each other. Jack looked away with his arms crossed when Yusei and Crow looked at him._

 _He sighed. "What?" He could feel their stares at the back of his head._

" _Aren't you going to go help her?" Crow asked. Jack 'hmph'd'._

" _Why should I?"_

" _She could be hurt, Jack!"_

" _And I would care, why? She got into this hersel—"_

" _JAAAAAAAAACK!" The ground shook as a loud boom echoed throughout Satellite, knocking the three teens off their feet._

" _Do you care now, Jack?!" Crow shouted at his friend. But he didn't even have to, as Jack was staring outside in horror. "Jack…?"_

" _That… that thing… It's back!" Jack shouted in shock before standing and bolting out the door. Yusei and Crow followed._

 _When they got there, they were shocked, and that's putting it lightly. Shinji was standing, slumped over, with her arms limp, her fingers covered in blood from scratching Kalin, and her eyes shadowed over. She was surrounded in a red aura that formed the same two-mouthed dragon, and it was not happy. Kalin was backing away with fear-filled eyes, his arms bleeding._

" _Shinji!" Yusei called out, but didn't get a response. He ran toward her. The dragon turned its head to him, making him freeze._

" _GRAAAAAAHHH!" The dragon roared, sending a strong gust of wind that sent Yusei flying into Crow._

" _Yusei!" Jack exclaimed, looking at his friend._

" _I-i'm okay…" Yusei said, rubbing his head. He got up and helped Crow to his feet, and they all watched the two._

" _What happened…?" Yusei whispered._

 _Shinji slowly lifted her arm and held her palm out to Kalin. The dragon roared and its top mouth, that remained closed until now, opened. A bright energy orb started to form, and Jack's eyes widened._

" _SHINJI, STOP!" Jack screamed as he ran over and wrapped his arms around her tightly, despite the wind trying to push him away._

 _Shinji flinched, and the dragon's energy started fading. Jack, Yusei, and Crow sighed in relief as the energy faded and Sector Security arrived, but it wasn't over yet. Kalin grabbed a pocket knife, flicking it open, then turned to Jack and Shinji._

" _You guys… you ruined everything!" Kalin screamed as he thew the knife with deadly precision toward Jack's back._

 _In Shinji's eyes, everything slowed down. She moved her head to see the knife coming towards them. Her eyes widened, as the mark glowed once more. It seemed to make her faster, as she turned and went behind him, her arms stretched out. She frowned sadly at Kalin before she felt a piercing pain in her stomach._

 _In Jack's eyes, it happened so fast. He had heard Kalin's screaming and saw Shinji move. He turned his body halfway to look at Shinji. He stared, wide-eyed, into Shinji's back, before there was the sound of skin and muscle breaking. He heard her gasp in pain as she fell back against Jack._

" _SHINJI!_


	5. Betrayal of The Worst Kind

**(Previously)**

 _You guys… you ruined everything!" Kalin screamed as he thew the knife with deadly precision toward Jack's back._

 _In Shinji's eyes, everything slowed down. She moved her head to see the knife coming towards them. Her eyes widened, as the mark glowed once more. It seemed to make her faster, as she turned and went behind him, her arms stretched out. She frowned sadly at Kalin before she felt a piercing pain in her stomach._

 _In Jack's eyes, it happened so fast. He had heard Kalin's screaming and saw Shinji move. He turned his body halfway to look at Shinji. He stared, wide-eyed, into Shinji's back, before there was the sound of skin and muscle breaking. He heard her gasp in pain as she fell back against Jack._

" _SHINJI!_

 _ **(Now)**_

" _SHINJI!" Yusei and Crow cry out as they see the knife hit her stomach. Yusei turns livid and tackles Kalin to the ground and wrestles with him. Shinji falls back, and Jack quickly grabs her and kneels down, resting her on his arm. He looks at her, his eyes wide._

" _Sh-Shinji, you… you idiot!" Jack growls out, holding her close to him, his body shaking. Never, in his life, has he had to witness one of his best friends getting hurt like this. Not even in any fights he got in with The Enforcers._

" _Jack! Shinji!" Crow calls as he kneels beside them. "Jack, set her down. I need to take the knife out!" Jack doesn't hesitate and lays her down gently. "When I pull this out, I need you to put pressure on the wound." Crow instructed, to which Jack nodded. "Here I go… Just bear with us, okay, Shinji?" He said, even though she couldn't respond. He gripped the pocket knife and quickly ripped it out, earning a pained cry from Shinji._

 _Jack immediately put his hands over the wound and applied pressure, not caring about the blood that caked his hands. "Crow, help Yusei." Crow nodded, stood, and ran to help. Jack looked at Shinji, and saw her looking at him with half-lidded eyes. "Don't worry, Shinji. You'll be back to normal in no time. But you need to do something for me, okay?," he stated calmly. Shinji nodded slightly. "Don't close your eyes. Whatever you do, don't close your eyes, okay?" She nodded again, though more faint._

" _Yusei!" Kalin screamed as he was being led away by Sector Security. Yusei and Crow stood, frowning at their ex-friend. "I'll get you for this! You betrayed me!"_

" _I didn't betray y—"_

" _I'll kill you!" He screamed before he was out of sight, forever._

 _Yusei sighed, then turned when he heard Jack say, "Shinji? Shinji, don't close your eyes!"_

" _What's going on?" Yusei asked, running over and kneeling beside Shinji._

" _Her eyes are closing," Jack stated, ignoring the blood seeping through his fingers._

" _Come on, let's get to Martha's!" Crow said urgently. Jack nodded and gently picked her up bridal style._

 _The three boys ran as fast as possible back to Martha's. They kicked down the door, screaming Martha's name. The woman came down and saw the blood on Jack and Shinji, and brought her to her room. She ushered the boys out so she could properly deal with the wound. This left the boys anxious as they waited outside. Jack sat, thinking about what had happened. Yusei was doing the same, but was leaning against the wall, and Crow was pacing._

" _Will you stop pacing? It's annoying me," Jack stated coldly. Crow frowned at him, but didn't say anything. He knew Jack was tearing himself up over this. Crow and Yusei shared a glance, before Yusei looked at him with a sigh._

" _You have to tell her, at some point," he said._

" _Tell her what? That I don't have any interest in her?" The two boys raised eyebrows at that._

" _Yeah right. You like her, don't you?" Crow smirked. Jack glared._

" _Why would I like her?"_

" _Look what she's done for you!"_

 _Jack stood quickly, knocking his chair over. "I do NOT like her! Saving me was her own doing! I did nothing to make her do that!"_

" _Jack—"_

" _She's too naive to realize that I don't like her back!"_

" _Jack."_

" _And another thing—"_

" _JACK!"_

 _Jack froze, hearing a voice that wasn't Yusei's. He turned his head slowly to see Martha, angry with her hands on her hips, and the door open. She had an eyebrow raised at him. "Tch…" Jack frowned and turned, walking out the door._

" _Jack, wait—"_

" _Leave me alone!"_

 _Crow and Yusei sighed, looking at each other with a frown, then turning to Martha._

" _So how is she?"_

" _She'll be fine."_

—

 _After that, Jack grew farther and farther from the group. Whenever Shinji would try to talk to him, he would walk away. Everyone knew it was tearing Shinji apart. Jack, though, was more confused than ever. Whenever he saw Shinji's sad face, he would hate himself and feel a strange feeling in his chest, which just made him angry. He would quickly walk away and go to the abandoned theatre to calm down._

 _Meanwhile, Yusei and Crow introduced Shinji to their other friends: Rally, Blitz, Nirvin, and Tank. They helped cheer her up when Jack would leave her. Yusei had gotten close to her, not wanting her to be hurt. Whenever Crow caught Yusei sneaking a glance at Shinji, he would smirk at him knowingly._

 _However, one day,_ the _day, everything changed._

" _Well?" Jack asked Shinji. They were standing in the theatre, Jack right in front of his throne, "Will you help me or not?"_

 _Shinji frowned, rubbing her arm. "I-I don't know… Yusei and the others…"_

" _Who cares about them? They're a bunch of losers! It's about time you and I leave this dump and go to where we really belong! New Domino City!" Shinji looked down sadly. Jack frowned, then walked over to her and hugged her tightly, shocking her. "Don't worry about them, okay? Just come with me… and we'll be free… together…" Shinji's eyes closed slightly, then completely, as she hugged back tightly._

"… _Okay…"_

—

 _Shinji snuck quietly into Yusei's room. After making sure he was asleep, she found his deck and took Stardust Dragon. She stared at the card sadly before looking at Yusei. "…I'm sorry…" she whispered._

" _Ngh…" Shinji froze by the door, her hand inches from the handle. She looked over to see Yusei waking up. His blurry vision could barely make her out._

" _Shinji?" he yawned, "What are you doing here?" She didn't reply. She just opened the door and ran, dropping the address she was to meet Jack at on the ground accidentally. "Wait!" he cried out, stretching his hand out to her. He quickly got up and saw the note. His eyes widened, remembering seeing a card in her hand, and checked his deck. "My Stardust…! SHINJI!"_

 _Crow stumbled into the room. "What's going on, Yusei?"_

" _Shinji stole Stardust!"_

" _WHAT?!"_

" _I'm going to go look for her!" Yusei turned and ran down and out the door._

" _Yusei!"_

" _Crow, stay here in case they come back!" He exclaimed, getting on his duel runner and driving toward the address._ Shinji… Why? Why are you doing this? _he thought, a frown on his face._

 _He got into the warehouse and looked around, frowning. He checked the address again. "This should be the place…" He looked around again and noticed a hole to the pipes. He drove down, and kept driving until he saw his friends Rally, Nirvin, Blitz, and Tank. He skidded to a halt. "Guys? What are you doing here?" he asked as he got off of his duel runner._

" _We got a note from Shinji…" Tank said._

" _Yeah, she seemed torn up about sumthin'!" Rally added, handing Yusei the note._

" _ **Guys, I'm sorry. I really am. I don't know if I can ever live**_

 _ **with myself for hurting you all… But, this is a once-in-a-lifetime**_

 _ **chance to prove myself to Jack. I love him, and I want to be**_

 _ **with him. This is the only way. I'm sorry… Goodbye.**_

 _ **~Shinji"**_

 _Yusei's hand shook as he gripped the note. "What the hell, Shinji…?" he whispered._

" _Ah, Yusei!" Everyone turned to see Jack walking up to them, a smirk on his face, "So glad you could come! And thank you for bringing your duel runner along. When I saw Shinji here had forgotten it, I thought we would've had a problem. Guess I was mistaken."_

" _Jack!" Yusei growled angrily, his fists clenched. "You're going to pay for this!" he said as Jack got on Yusei's duel runner._

" _You're going to have to get passed my guard first, Yusei," he snapped his fingers, a smug look on his face. Everyone's eyes narrowed, except for Yusei as his eyes widened, when Shinji came out of the shadows, frowning and with her duel disk on and activated._

" _Shinji?" Yusei whispered. "Why? Why are you doing this?!"_

" _You know why," she said, taking out multiple cards in order to prepare for a duel if needed. Yusei grit his teeth, then moved his question to Jack._

" _Why are you doing this?!" Yusei yelled. Rally, Nirvin, Tank, and Blitz took a couple steps away._

" _Please, Yusei, just let us leave quietly." She said softly. Yusei frowned, his eyebrows furrowed. She looked into his eyes and saw all the hurt he felt at the moment, making her clench her fists. She didn't want her friends to be hurt or fight, but she had to._

" _It's fine." Jack said, making everyone turn to him. "I've got all I needed." The girl nodded and turned to him and Yusei glared at her back angrily._

" _You traitors! How could you?!" He yelled, making her frown._

" _Oh shut up, Yusei!" Jack snapped, shocking everyone. Shinji walked over to the Duel Runner and was about to get on when Jack none-to-kindly pushed her onto the ground, knotting off the headphones around her neck. She looked up to Jack with wide eyes._

" _W-what are you…?"_

" _Your usefulness has just expired." Jack glared down at her shocked form, then at the others. "I'll see you around, Yusei." He laughed. "Oh who am I kidding, we'll never meet again!" Jack took something from his pocket and hit the button. The entire area shook, and cracks formed from above Yusei. Jack looked at her as she slowly stood and took a few steps toward Jack._

" _Jack… we had a deal… I go with you… and—"_

" _The deal's off. You weren't supposed to give them any hints as to what I would be doing, but you had to go and warn them." The girl grit her teeth. "You're no better than them." He turned the motorbike, making her eyes widen as she was slammed into the wall by the back of it, her head getting most of the damage and starting to bleed._

" _GAH!"_

 _He revved it up and raced out of the tunnels as they started to collapse._

" _JACK!" Yusei screamed out in anger as Jack disappeared into the darkness, unaware of the cracks above him. Shinji, however, turned and saw, making her eyes widen._

" _YUSEI!" She called out, standing with every ounce of strength in her now unstable body, and ran toward him. Yusei looked at her in shock as she shoved him away and toward his friends. He stared at her, and his eyes widened as she mouthed one word and smiled, just as the area around her collapsed, making all the rubble that was supposed to crush Yusei actually crush her._

" _No!" He yelled out in shock, trying to rush back in but being held by his friends._

" _No Yusei!"_

" _It's too dangerous!"_

" _Wait until the rubble's stopped!"_

 _They would yell, but nothing mattered to him. He finally stopped struggling, collapsing to his knees and watching helplessly as the dirt and debris buried her. He could hear his friends, but their voices were muffled. He didn't care. All that mattered was the look on her face as their eyes met and the word she whispered before everything crumbled. Yusei saw it. And that was his drive to finding her. Once the rubble came to a halt, Yusei stood quickly and searched frantically, pushing and shoving scraps of the tunnel in order to find her._

 _His friends watched sadly, "Yusei…" Rally whispered, watching as Yusei tore desperately at the pile of trash. Rally clenched his fists angrily._ Why does he even try? _He thought._ She just used us like Jack did! _He looked down…_

 _Yusei kept pushing through until he found something, his eyes widening when he saw raven hair poke out from the rubble. This caused him to dig her out even faster, his eyes wide in fear._ No, no, no! Don't you DARE be dead! I won't let you be! _He thought to himself. Finally, he was able to pull her out. He looked down at her body. Her legs, exposed from her short jean shorts, were all bruised and cut. Her black jacket with two dark blue stripes going down the sleeves and shoulders was torn up, and her torso was banged up as well, blood seeping from the worst cuts, since she only wore a sports bra, that showed more midriff than Marik, and her jacket was opened. Her face held bruises and a cut here and there, and her silver eyes were closed. Her right arm that the duel disk was once attached to was now twisted in an awkward angle, and her duel disk was shattered. Only the arm band attached to her and the deck holder (along with her deck) were still intact, though it was cracked almost everywhere. Yusei frowned as he brushed some pieces of small rubble trapped in her raven black short hair. This action causing him to realize her black hat must have gone missing along with her headphones._

" _Hey. Shinji." Yusei said, shaking her body lightly. "Hey!" He shook her more, but she didn't move. "Wake up! Shinji, wake up!" He pleaded, checking her neck for her pulse and freezing. "Shinji… please… wake up…" He held her close and tight, before screaming in anger._

 _She didn't wake._

 _._

 _._

 _._

 _._

 _._

" _Sorry."_


	6. Yusei vs Jack

Yusei sat on his D-Wheel as it sat stationary in front of the hatch's exit. He took his helmet off and shook his dead before setting it down on the dash. He had made it… he was in New Domino City. He heard another D-Wheel stop and he looked up at an elevated road. He frowned when he saw his old white D-Wheel… the one Jack stole. He watched as Jack stood and turned to Yusei, holding his helmet under his arm, with a smirk on his face.

"So, Yusei. You made good time, didn't you?" Jack said smugly, "I hope Trudge didn't inconvenience you too much. Please don't take it personally. He's just doing what I pay him to do." Yusei said nothing, so Jack continued, "So what brings you here?"

"I want my Stardust Dragon back."

"Hmph… And I guess you'll be wanting your duel runner back, too?"

"I don't need it," Yusei stated.

"So it's just the card?" Jack asked, "I would've thought you moved on by now. Since it seems you've gotten over losing your duel runner already. By the way, how's the new one treating you?"

"I have no complaints," Yusei responded, "How's the one you stole from me? Still running well, I hope."

Jack 'hmph'd'. "You never could let go of anything, could you Yusei?" Yusei's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"I never was one to forgive and forget. Now where's my card?"

Jack looked down at him. "What's the rush? Dont'cha want to catch up on old times?" Yusei clenched his fist.

"I want to know where my Stardust Dragon is!"

"Oh you mean this ol' thing here?" Jack asked as he held out the white-colored card, "Does it still look the same?"

"How could you, Jack?"

"That card was wasting away with you in the Satellite. I couldn't bear to watch it sit in the hands of a loser."

"But Jack, how could you take it? When you knew it was the only hope our friends had of getting out of the Satellite? It was meant to help us all."

"Well it certainly helped me when I got to New Domino City. And to show my thanks, you can have it back." He threw the card at Yusei, who caught it.

Yusei stared at the card for a moment, before closing his eyes.

"Oh?" Jack said, "Having second thoughts, are we?" Yusei threw him back the card and he caught it between his fingers. Yusei stood off his D-Wheel and faced Jack.

"No, Jack. I want the card, but I want to make you pay for what you did more. After I win a duel with you, I'll take my card and leave."

—

"So when are you going to tell me where you're taking me?" Yusei asked as he followed Jack on his duel runner. Jack paused before answering.

"Stop your worryin'. And enjoy the view already!" Yusei looked to his right at the city as they drove by. "So what do you think of New Domino City? It's a little step up from the Satellite, isn't it? But if you get homesick, I'm sure i can find a trash bin for you to play in."

 _This place is very beautiful… I bet Shinji would have loved it here. No doubt she deserved to be here._ Yusei thought, before turning his head to Jack. "Are we going to duel, or are you going to play tour guide all night?" he asked.

"Hehe, well since you worked so hard to get here, I figured I'd show you the sights before you get shipped back to the Satellite sector."

"We'll see about that…" Yusei whispered, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"Yes we will," Jack said, "Looks like we're here. Welcome… to the Kaiba Dome!"

Yusei looked forward and saw a round building. _Jack… I will make you pay for everything you did…_

—

A very weird-looking gay clown-esque man stood near a glass window, looking down at the workers below him, all sitting and on their laptops. He had a creepy 'smile' and his hands behind his back. "Lazar." The man turned and saw another man with long gray hair standing next to a woman with short dark blue hair.

"Ah my dear Mr. Goodwin," Lazar addressed, bowing slightly, "I've been waiting for you." Lazar turned and turned on the screen, showing two boys in the Kaiba Dome. "We've found Mr. Atlas, but I am unsure of who's with him."

"It's the Satellite duelist… Yusei Fudo."

"But sir, I thought it was highly illegal to duel against a Satellite."

Goodwin stared at the screen. "That's why what we see here, stays here."

—

Yusei and Jack stood next to their duel runners, with the former looking around. "This duel dome's impressive, isn't it? Television just doesn't do it justice." Yusei looked at him as he looked away. "Now imagine it filled with thousands of adoring fans. All of them chanting your name. Cheering you on!" He turned and glared at Yusei. "But that's something you're never going to experience, Yusei. Because after this duel, the only ones cheering you on will be your loser friends in the Satellite! And that's if they don't all turn their backs on you for returning without your precious Stardust Dragon!" Jack lifted the card into the air, the lights of the Dome turning on at the same time. "I wish I could be there to see their faces when you try explainin' how your had their Stardust Dragon, but got greedy and turned it down for revenge."

"This is more important than that card, Jack."

"Oh? Your petty little revenge is more important than this?" Jack asked teasingly, "Then tell me why it's so important." Yusei frowned. "Going to stay silent, eh? Well, let's get this duel started."

The two duelists got on their runners, both pulling down the visors on their helmets and revving the engine. Jack played the Speed World Field Spell. They looked at each other, then the road. "Let's ride." They both hit the gas and started the duel.

 **Yusei: 4000**

 **Speed Counters: 0**

 **Jack: 4000**

 **Speed Counters: 0**

—

"Are you really going to allow this, Director?" Lazar asked.

"I'm interested to see what will happen," he stated vaguely. Lazar looked at him, then to the screen.

—

"Yusei, I did always enjoy dueling you. We've been battling with these monsters in our decks since we were kids," Jack looked back at his friend, "And this, my friend, is going to be a trip down memory lane!"

Yusei frowned, then drew a card from his deck. "Here's to history," he sets a card down, "I summon Quillbolt Hedgehog in defense mode!" The monster appeared next to him before turning blue.

(Quillbolt Hedgehog - Atk: 800 / Def:800)

Jack looked behind him at the monster. "Well, isn't that a blast from the past!"

 **Yusei: 4000**

 **Speed Counters: 1**

 **Jack: 4000**

 **Speed Counters: 1**

"As is… this!" Jack drew a card, then set it on his duel disk in attack mode. "My Mad Archfiend!"

(Mad Archfiend - Atk: 1800 / Def: 0)

Jack revved his engine up and turned around toward Yusei. "Well Yusei, this is just like old times! Except now it's 200mph faster! Now Mad Archfiend, destroy his Quillbolt Hedgehog!"

 **Yusei: 3000**

 **Speed Counters: 0**

 **Jack: 4000**

 **Speed Counters: 1**

"Things seem to have started the way our last duel ended! With you losing precious life points!"

"Ngh!" Yusei winced as his life points decreased. "You'll regret doing that, Jack," he warned. Jack turned his runner back around.

"Yusei, the only thing I'm going to regret is that this duel isn't being broadcasted to the millions of adoring fans across the globe! They deserve to watch my greatest challenge ever, and my greatest victory!" He looked back with a smirk, "You do realize you're going to end up losing this battle don't you?"

Yusei glared. "You keep thinking about that, Jack. But I'm not going to let it happen. I made a promise that I would beat you and I'm sticking to it!"

"Oh? And who did you promise? Your idiot friends?" Jack teased. He frowned and his eyes narrowed when he sensed something he rarely ever sensed from Yusei… pure killing intent.

"You remember Shinji, don't you?" Yusei asked. Jack tensed slightly at hearing the name, but shrugged it off.

"Ah, the helpless little love-obsessed fangirl… I remember her. How is she doing?"

"She's resting at the moment," he said with a glare.

"Oh really? So she sends you to do her dirty work?"

"No, I did this of my own free will. She's incapacitated." Jack frowned at that.

"What do you mean?"

"Remember two years ago? When you made the pipe collapse in on itself?"

"Ah yes, I do remember that. Come to think of it, I'm shocked you're still on this planet."

Yusei ignored that comment and looked forward angrily. "Well, Shinji's hanging on by a thread. You see, Jack, after you abandoned us and Shinji, and had the pipe collapse, I wasn't the one stuck under the rubble."

Jack got a sinking feeling in his gut, which confused him immensely.

"Do you understand now, Jack?" Yusei asked as his runner caught up to him. Jack and Yusei looked at each other, Jack's eyes cold as ice to hide his uncertainty, and Yusei's burning with rage and betraying his calm expression. "I didn't come here just for the card, and I'm not dueling you for abandoning us. I'm dueling you because you put Shinji, the one who took a knife for you _and_ gave you your most prized card, into a coma!"

Jack's stomach dropped to the ground as Yusei's duel runner slowed, putting him behind Jack again. This was both good and bad, as Yusei didn't see Jack's horrified expression. _Shinji's… in a coma…?_

—

"Well, this is interesting," Lazar commented, looking at one of the videos on the screen with Jack's horror-stricken face, "Who knew Jack cared about someone. Judging by the expression on his face, this Shinji girl must have been close to him."

Goodwin watched silently, a plan forming in his head.

—

Jack was silent for a while, making Yusei think he was mourning. He couldn't have been more wrong. "What do I care?" Yusei's head snapped up.

"What?!"

"I said, what do I care if she's in a coma? She brought it upon herself. Don't blame me for her choice." Yusei glared angrily, his eyes narrowed.

"So you don't care that the girl you loved is in a coma and is dying?"

"I never loved her!" Jack shouted, silencing Yusei. Jack clenched his fists. "Anyway, are we going to duel or play twenty questions?" Yusei gripped the handles of his duel runner angrily, but calmed down. He couldn't beat Jack in a fit of pure rage. He'd become reckless.

 **Yusei: 3000**

 **Speed Counters: 1**

 **Jack: 4000**

 **Speed Counters: 2**

Yusei drew a card. "I summon the Tuner Monster, Junk Synchron." The Tuner Monster appeared next of the duel runner. "And since I have a Tuner Monster out on my field, I can activate Quillbolt Hedgehog's special ability, which brings it back from the graveyard." Quillbolt appeared once more next to Junk Synchron.

Jck looked back. "Big deal! You'll need to do better than that!"

"Grr… And I will! I tune my Junk Synchron with my Quillbolt Hedgehog to summon Junk Warrior!"

(Junk Warrior - Atk: 2300 / Def: 1300)

Jack looked at his monster. "If that's the best you got, you're in trouble!"

"The only thing in trouble is that Mad Archfiend of yours! Junk Warrior, attack Mad Archfiend!" Junk Warrior rushed toward Mad Archfiend and punched it, making it shatter. Jack grinned as his life points dropped.

 **Yusei: 3000**

 **Speed Counters: 1**

 **Jack: 3500**

 **Speed Counters: 2**

Jack drew a card. "It's my turn now!" He looked at the card and smirked. "I summon the Twin-Shield Defender in defense mode!"

(Twin-Shield Defender - Atk: 700 / Def:1600)

"Plus I'll throw down a little face-down and end my turn."

Yusei stared uncertainly at the card before drawing his own. "I summon, Speed warrior!"

(Speed Warrior - Atk: 900 / Def: 400)

"Now his 900 attack points are added to Junk Warrior's."

(Junk Warrior - Atk: 3200 / Def: 1300)

"You're monster's about to be wiped out, Jack!" Yusei called out.

—

Shinji lay in her room, her eyes closed and a slight, but peaceful, frown on her face, her mouth open just enough to let air in and out through her mask. However, she was not alone. There was a being that hovered in the room, its bright yellow eyes staring at her However, it could do nothing. It knew of beings called Signers and their Signer Dragons. It wished to become one as well. But fate was against it, as its card and actual being were hidden, locked away. It could only help those in the spirit world. So, it will have to find a successor. One who will protect this girl from harm.

The dragon's eyes turned to the girl's deck, left on the bedside table next to her head, for use for when she awakens. One of the creatures in there will be able to protect her. The problem was, she will have multiple of that one creature. The dragon closed its eyes for a moment, before opening them again. They glowed brightly, as did four cards in her deck. The spirits of those dragons appeared, three being the same and one being more powerful. The red dragon looked at the four, before coming to a decision.

It opened its mouth to speak…

—

"Now Yusei, this is where things get interesting!" Jack stated, "Using my Golem's special ability, I can break him down to summon the two fusion monsters that are in my graveyard."

(Big Piece Golem - Atk: 2100 / Def: 0)

(Medium Piece Golem - Atk: 1600 / Def: 0)

"It's kind of like recycling. Something you'd know all about, living in that dump of a tunnel you call home!" Yusei glared at him as the two Golems interlocked their hands together. "Now I can activate Medium Piece Golem's special ability, to summon Small Piece Golem from my hand!"

(Small Piece Golem - Atk: 1100 / Def: 0)

Yusei looked at the three monsters. "That's quite a rock collection."

Jack held up a card. "Well Yusei, you know I always say, 'the more the merrier'." He set a card down. "And if you think it's crowded now, wait 'til I summon out this guy! The Tuner Monster Dark Resonator!"

(Dark Resonator - Atk: 1300 / Def: 300)

"Now I tune Dark Resonator with Big Piece Golem, to Synchro Summon my most powerful beast!"

Yusei's eyes narrowed. _This isn't good… but if he's summoning what I think he's summoning… then there's one question in my mind…_ He thought as a bright orange light appeared next to Jack.

"Yusei, this battle's about to move into the fast lane!" He held out his hand, "Now feel the power of my Red Dragon Archfiend!" A shadow appeared in the light before it shattered and disappeared. The large red and black dragon roared, clenching and unclenching its fists as it glared at Yusei.

(Red Dragon Archfiend - Atk: 3000 / Def: 2000)

"I'm shocked, Jack," Yusei said, "I thought you would have gotten rid of this thing. After all, Shinji gave it to you, did she not?"

"Just because she gave it to me, doesn't mean I'll get rid of it!" Jack exclaimed, clenching his fist in front of him, "This is my most powerful and rare card! I'm keeping it because it's strong, not because some loser from the Satellite gave it to me!" Yusei clenched his teeth, "It's my most prized possession! But I only use it on special occasions, and this is the most special occasion I've had in a long time!" Jack smirked, "I wanted my dragon to defeat you, but then I thought of a more fitting conclusion!"

"Grr…"

"So by sending my Space Gate to my graveyard, I can bring a new monster to the field that will make our little trip down memory lane that much more memorable!" A blue portal formed and a creature with a chain around it came out of it. "Meet the Tuner Monster, Sinister Sprocket!"

(Sinister Sprocket - Atk: 400 / Def: 0)

"Now I tune my Sinister Sprocket with my Medium Piece Golem and Small Piece Golem to Synchro Summon your destruction," Jack said. The selected monsters glowed brightly, forming a bright blue beam. Two silhouettes of wings stretched out, "He look familiar? He should. After all, it IS your Stardust Dragon!" Said dragon roared loudly as the beam shattered, looking down at its previous owner.

(Stardust Dragon - Atk: 2500 / Def: 2000)

"It's been too long, my friend…" Yusei whispered…

 _ **~FLASHBACK~**_

" _Happy birthday Yusei!" Jack, Crow, Kalin, and Shinji exclaimed. They all had wide grins on their faces, and were each holding a present._

" _Thanks, guys!" usei exclaimed. Shinji walked shyly toward him, stopping a few inches away from him, looking down at the ground. She didn't notice the light pink dusting Yusei's face. Yusei blinked in shock when she thrust her present in front of him. He took it, and she backed away._

" _I didn't know what to get you… and I really didn't have money… so this was from my deck," she explained while Yusei opened it, showing Stardust Dragon. Yusei's eyes widened._

" _Shinji… I-I can't take this!" he protested. She shook her head with a gentle smile._

" _I don'tuse it, anyway. And besides, I feel like it belongs with you. Take care of it, okay?"_

 _Yusei nodded. "I will."_

 _ **~FLASHBACK END~**_

Jack smirked, then laughed loudly and madly. "You wanted Stardust Dragon so bad, well here he is!" He looked at Yusei, "You know what they always say: 'be careful what you wish for'."

—

One of the four dragons chosen by the red dragon watched silently as Rally sat next to Shinji's bed, a hand on her cold one. "Please Shinji… Please wake up…" Rally's eyes slowly closed from exhaustion. He rested his head on the bed and fell asleep, using his criss-crossed arms as a pillow.

The dragon looked up with narrowed eyes, hearing the roars of Red Dragon Archfiend and Stardust Dragon. It quickly moved its head to Shinji before flapping its wings silently and floating over to her, leaning over her, it's eyes fixated on her hand. Its eyes were happy and wide, and it disappeared to tell the others of the news.

Shinji, for the first time in two years, moved her fingers.


	7. The Crimson Dragon Awakens!

_**I need reviews! I don't know if you people like this or not, so please tell me what you think! More reviews means more motivation to do this thing! ^^**_

"Well, this is an interesting development," Lazar commented. He, Goodwin, and their assistant, were all watching the duel between Jack and Yusei. "What do you think of it, Mr. Goodwin?" Lazar asked, turning to him.

Goodwin stayed silent, a frown on his face. He wasn't paying attention to the duel at this moment. He had other things to worry about. _Shinji… could it be her? Impossible! How is she still alive…?!_ he thought in confusion.

—

"When I offered to give you back your precious Stardust Dragon, you should have taken it and ran back to the Satellite. But no, you just had to prove that you could hold your own with the Master of Faster!" Jack taunted.

"I'm going to do more than hold my own, Jack," Yusei said calmly as he drew a card, "It's my turn! I summon Shield Warrior to the field in defense mode!"

(Shield Warrior - Atk: 800 / Def: 1600)

"And next, I'll also switch my Junk Warrior into defense mode! With that done, I'm placing one card face-down!" Yusei glared at Jack. "It's your move, old buddy."

"Putting both monsters in defense mode? You gotta get aggressive if ya want to win! But then again I shouldn't be surprised… You never were much of a fighter." The two duel runners passed each other, their riders glaring at each other through the corner of their eyes. Jack quickly turned his runner around and chased after Yusei.

—

Rally woke up when he heard a knock at the door. Curious, he opened it and stared in shock. "Blitz… Tank… Nirvin… What are you guys doing here?" he asked. The three boys looked away sheepishly, before Nirvin decided to speak.

"We got really curious about Shinji's condition… Seeing as how she's still alive, we'd like to pay her a visit."

"After all, she was our friend…" Tank cut in nervously. Rally looked at them for a moment before opening the door more and stepping back to let them in. He closed the door and locked it once everyone was in.

"How did you guys even know where this place was?" Rally asked.

"We saw you guys coming and going from here before," Tank explained.

Rally nodded and motioned for them to follow. They walked into another room and saw Shinji still on the bed, her breathing shallow but still there. The three boys stood in shock while Rally sat back down on the chair. Blitz was the first to speak up.

"Oh man… I didn't think that… oh god…"

"She's still alive, though barely… I just hope Yusei will come back soon. If anything happened to her…" Rally mumbled, looking at the girl sadly.

"Yeah… Yusei really likes her, doesn't he?" Tank asked. Nirvin nodded.

"Even when he knew she liked Jack…" Nirvin sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "This whole love-triangle thing is going to end very badly…"

"She deserved someone better than Jack," Blitz growled, "Even if she betrayed us, she shouldn't have had to be crushed like that…"

Everyone looked at the girl, frowns on all their faces.

—

" _Huh…?"_ Two silver eyes blinked open, before opening completely. Shinji looked around, seeing nothing but white. _"W-where am I?"_ she asked herself. _"H-hello?"_ she called out softly, her voice echoing through the white void. _"Hello? I-is anyone out there…?"_ Again, nothing happened. She took a couple steps back, her body shaking in fear. She hated being alone, as it made her scared.

This place again… She's been here numerous times, so many times she couldn't keep count. She doesn't know how long she's been asleep, though, or even that she was asleep. The last thing she remembered was Yusei's horror-stricken face, a sharp pain in her back, then nothing.

Shinji sat down and brought her knees up to her face and wrapped her arms around them, bringing them close to her. _"Someone… help me… I'm scared… I'm alone… Jack… Yusei… Crow…_ Tears form in her eyes.

—

"Huh?" Tank asked, looking at Shinji. Everyone looked over, and were shocked as well, as a tear fell from Shinji's eye.

"Shinji…" Rally whispered.

—

"Well now that you've got no monsters out on your field, Stardust Dragon can swoop down and attack you directly!" Jack looked up at the blue and white dragon next to him. "Hope this does't hurt too much."

"Sure you don't…" Yusei mumbled, looking at the dragon as well.

Stardust Dragon roared loudly before firing a blast of pure white energy at Yusei, engulfing him and his duel runner. He cried out with one eye closed.

 **Yusei's Life Points: 500**

 **Speed Counters: 4**

 **Jack's Life Points: 3500**

 **Speed Counters: 6**

—

A white hot pain shot through Shinji's body, making her scream as she held her head in pain. _"It hurts! It hurts! Make it stop! Please!"_ She shut her eyes tightly and brought her body closer together, tears pricking her eyes.

She heard a loud roar echo through the void, but couldn't match it.

" _Jack… Yusei… Crow…"_

—

"What's going on?!" Nirvin exclaimed. Shinji had started to scream, and was shaking. Blitz and Tank had gone and held her down to prevent her from hurting herself.

"I don't know! Nothing like this has happened before!" Rally exclaimed, also standing.

SHinji mumbled a couple words, but they couldn't make it out. Next to the humans, the same dragon's spirit appeared, staring at its master. It turned its head to the sky with narrowed eyes. Its two companions appeared and flew into the air.

—

Yusei's duel runner swerved a bit before he got it back under control. "So the monster that used to be yours, the one you came here to get back from me, is now the one taking you down," Jack taunted, "I'm sure that if you thought that this would have happened, you wouldn't have challenged me to a duel!" Yusei frowned at him. "So, think about giving up?"

Yusei drew a card. "Not a chance!"

 **Yusei's Life Points: 500**

 **Speed Counters: 5**

 **Jack's Life Points: 3500**

 **Speed Counters: 7**

He grabbed a card from his hand and threw it on the duel disk. "I summon Sonic Chick in defense mode!"

"Just like back at school. You waste your time hanging out with chickens!"

"Well at least this chicken doesn't almost kill my friends and then abandon them. In fact this chicken is staying around for the long haul." He placed a card down. "Next I place a card face down, and end my turn."

 **Yusei's Life Points: 500**

 **Speed Counters: 6**

 **Jack's Life Points: 3500**

 **Speed Counters: 8**

Jack grinned, "Hmph," he sped up his runner, "Let me ask you something, Yusei. How do you think this duel of ours is going to end? Let's humor you and say that you have a chance at beating me. IF you do win, what are you gonna do? You haven't really thought this revenge fantasy thing through, have you?" he drew a card, "Well let me tell you what IS gonna happen! You're gonna lose this duel. Then I'll press this little button here on my runner, which will send out security and take you to the facility. So much for revenge."

He looked up at his Archfiend. "And speaking of losing, Red Dragon Archfiend, destroy Sonic Chick!" The dragon raced forward with a roar. Its fist became surrounded in flames as it punched the chicken, but was stopped by a barrier, "Too bad, Yusei. The chicken's ability will be trumped by my Archfiend's ability! Remember, it can wipe out any monster on your field in defense mode!" Flames surrounded Sonic Chick, and Jack grinned. It faltered, however, when the flames disappeared and Sonic Chick remained. "Always thinking, aren't ya Yusei?"

"It's what I do best. I'm just surprised you don't remember this friend from when we dueled for fun!" His trap card revealed itself.

"Oh yeah! Your Remote Revenge Trap Card! I forgot you had that!"

"It seems there's a lot you forgot about, Jack," Yusei said with a glare, "So here's a little refresher for you. First, this card deflects your attack, then it destroys all cards on your field in attack mode! And aren't your two dragons in attack mode? How's this for getting aggressive?" Fire appeared around Sonic Chick before shooting toward Red Dragon Archfiend.

"You have a thing with revenge, don't you?" Jack said, "Sorry for you, but just like your plan for revenge, this attack will fail miserably!" Stardust Dragon quickly got in front of its partner dragon, its wings folded, as it took the hit, "Because Stardust Dragon's taking one for the team! That's one of its special abilities. If you activate a card that destroys all my monsters, Stardust Dragon can sacrifice itself to save the other monsters!" The dragon roared as it shattered and disappeared. "So much for Stardust Dragon."

Yusei grit his teeth.

"Next, I'll set two cards face down. Now, I think I'll bring _my_ Stardust Dragon back!" A portal appeared, and Stardust reappeared. "Take a good, long look at it Yusei, because after this duel you'll never see it again!"

Yusei smirked, "Not quite, Jack."

Jack's smile turned to a frown in confusion. "Hm?"

"I activate my Trap Card, Harmonia Mirror!"

Jack's eyes widened and he gasped.

"Check this out. Because you just summoned Stardust Dragon to the field, without the traditional Synchro Summon, I can use this card to get Stardust Dragon onto my side!" The mirror glowed brightly and Stardust Dragon glowed brightly as well, before disappearing and reappearing on Yusei's side.

"No biggie," Jack commented, "It's like I said earlier, I don't need it. I only used it to make this duel more interesting."

"Well you did, Jack." Yusei commented.

"Interesting. So now we've got Red Dragon Archfiend versus Stardust Dragon. In a fight to the finish!" Yusei revved his engine and went faster. "Looks like we'll finally get a chance to see which dragon is stronger, Yusei!"

"And you'll finally get a chance to see the duelist I've become!"

—

"This Satellite doesn't know when to quit!" Lazar exclaimed, his eyes wide. He smirked, "Well perhaps, I should send a security team to end this little duel Mr Goodwi—" he stopped when Goodwin stopped him. Lazar looked at him with a raised eyebrow, but said nothing and looked back to the screen.

Goodwin narrowed his eyes, feeling a strange presence nearing the stadium. _This isn't the power I was searching for… Is it another one like Jack? No… this is… different. It must be her!_

—

"I activate my Speed Spell!" The card flipped next to his runner, "Silver Contrails! this allows me to add attack points to my Stardust Dragon!"

(Stardust Dragon - Atk: 3500 / Def: 2000)

"It's time our beasts tussled! Stardust, attack his Red Dragon Archfiend! Go, Cosmic Flare!" Stardust shot its white energy beam at Archfiend, who growled in anger.

Jack and Yusei winced as their right arm started to throb in pain.

"Huh? Why'd my arm hurting? What's going on?"

—

" _Hah!"_ Shinji cried out as her left shoulder blade burned. She fell forward onto her stomach, attempting to grab at the pain but unable to. _"It hurts, it hurts!"_ She opened her eyes slightly and looked up to see a large dragon staring at her, its two mouths closed. She looked at it, silently pleading that it would help. She screamed even louder as the mark started burning, its shape changing as the dragon's eyes glowed.

" _ **I am sorry, child…"**_ It whispered, _**"But I am no longer of any use to you. I have served my purpose in your life. These three protectors shall keep you safe now. I must return to the Spirit World. I will see you again, in due time."**_ Its body dispersed into particles as the pain subsided.

Shinji breathed heavily, not even moving as it would burn more. Her hand was inches away from the mark…

…the mark with three dragons circling each other.

—

Red Dragon Archfiend roared as it swiped away the blast. Yusei growled. "Sorry, Yusei, but using my Synchro Reflector Trap Card, I can negate your attack and destroy the monster on your side of the field with the lowest attack points!" as he said that, Sonic Chick burst into pieces. "And since this turn is done, your Stardust Dragon loses its power boost!"

(Stardust Dragon - Atk: 2500 / Def: 2000)

"But it's still my turn, Jack, and I'm far from done. From my hand I play Ghost Gardna in defense mode!"

(Ghost Gardna - Atk: 0 / Def: 1900)

"Trying to protect your little dragon, are you?"

"I place two cards face down. Your move Jack." Yusei's arm throbben in pain, making him look at it with a grunt, confused.

—

"Incoming call, sir." The assistant said to Goodwin.

"Put it on Speaker." he said. She nodded and pressed a button, making a screen appear showing their head scientist.

"You might want to find a large, solid object. And then duck behind it!" Goodwin turned to the screen.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"A major power surge! It's out of control! If it keeps up, things are going to get crazy!" Goodwin's eyes widened slightly.

"Record all your findings."

"As you wish, sir." he said before disappearing.

—

Jack drew a card. "Time to end this Yusei!" His arm throbbed, and he narrowed his eyes in pain. Jack looked at the card with a smirk. "Red Dragon Archfiend, attack Stardust Dragon!" Red Dragon's fist became flames as it shot forward. Ghost Gardna quickly got between the dragons. "Hey, Ghosty! Down in front!"

"Ghost Gardna's ability allows it to draw your monster's attention and become the target of your attack. So Stardust is safe!" Ghost Gardna shatters, and Yusei grins. "Now, his second ability activates, and your Red Dragon Archfiend loses 1000 attack points until the end of the turn!"

(Red Dragon Archfiend - Atk: 2000 / Def: 2000)

"Now I activate a Trap Card! Counterattack Beacon. Now, this card activated only when your monster destroys one of mine. It gives one of my monsters 500 attack points and forced it to attack, even if it's not my turn!"

(Stardust Dragon - Atk: 3000 / Def: 2000)

"Interesting… so now Stardust has more power than my Red Dragon…" Jack commented.

"Right Jack. Can you see where this is going? Now Stardust Dragon, atta—" Yusei and Jack groaned in pain as their arms hurt once more, "Attack!"

Stardust Dragon roared loudly.

"Not bad, Yusei. But 'not bad' is not good enough! Not when I've got the Prideful Roar Trap Card! For the low cost of 1000 life points, I can give Red Dragon Archfiend 1300 more attack points!"

 **Yusei's Life Points: 500**

 **Speed Counters: 7**

 **Jack's Life Points: 900**

 **Speed Counters: 9**

(Red Dragon Archfiend - Atk: 3300 / Def: 2000)

"It's show time!"

Red Dragon and Stardust readied their attacks, their heads arching back, before firing their blasts. They met at the middle, a ball of energy forming in the middle.

Yusei's arm burned as he looked at it. "Gah!"

"Ngh!" Jack let go of his duel runner's handle at the pain.

—

"GRAAAAHH! One dragon roared as it flapped its wings, flying toward the Stadium, its partner not far behind. They felt a sting of sadness at entering the Kaiba Dome, but ignored it and watched the other two dragons fighting.

—

Goodwin watched the screens, but his eyes widened when he saw the two spirits floating above the battle. _Impossible… She really is alive…_

—

"Shinji!" Rally exclaimed as the screams got louder and she started thrashing.

The three older boys held her down as she cried while screaming, "IT BURNS! MAKE IT STOP!"

—

The blast from the attacks burst, sending out red tendrils that surrounded the area. Yusei and Jack looked to see the two dragons still alive.

"What's going on?!" Jack asked, wide-eyed, "Your dragon should have been toast!" Jack and Yusei locked eyes for a moment before Yusei's card flipped over. "Shield Warrior?! You can't play that! I sent it to the graveyard!"

"And that's where its special ability activates! By removing it from play, I can save a monster form being destroyed," Yusei explained. His eyes narrowed, "But don't worry, your dragon still hits my for 300 life points."

 **Yusei's Life Points: 200**

 **Speed Counters: 7**

 **Jack's Life Points: 900**

 **Speed Counters: 9**

"And since Prideful Roar's effect is gone after an attack, your Red Dragon's back to the beginning."

(Red Dragon Archfiend - Atk: 3000 / Def: 2000)

Jack glare angrily at Yusei. "I can still finish you… with a speed spe—aauugh!" Jack looked to his arm in shock. "Not again!"

Yusei's arm got a shock of pain, as well, making him grip the handle tighter. "What is with this pain in my arm? What keeps causing it?!" His eyes widened at the glow on his arm. "What the…?"

"Hey Yusei, you doing this?!"

The red tendrils suddenly morphed into one bigger one. A bright yellow orb appeared, acting as its eye. The red tendril turned to flames as it shot up, a dragon head forming.

"What is that?!" Yusei exclaimed.

Jack watched as wings and a tail formed on it. "What trick is this Yusei?! What are you trying to pull?!"

"KURYAAAAAA!" The dragon roared. Jack and Yusei's eyes widened as their irises turned red.

—

Goodwin stared in awe at the dragon. "Amazing…"

—

"Keep her down!"

"We're trying!"

Shinji suddenly stopped screaming, her breathing heavy and labored as she calms down.

—

Shinji slowly sat up from her position, still weak form the pain. She heard roaring and looked up. A screen appeared, a bird's-eye view showing the Crimson Dragon. _"W-what is that…?"_ she whispered in horror and awe.

—

The two spirits roared as the saw Jack and Yusei lose control of their duel runners, and they quickly swooped down and shielded the humans from getting killed as they crashed.

—

Shinji saw Jack and Yusei from the dragon's views. Her eyes lingered on Jack's image, her eyes wide and brimmed with tears.

" _Jack…"_

Before she could continue, images of what he had done to her played back in her head. Her eyes slowly widened, as her whole situation came full circle in her mind.

" _You…"_ she whispered in horror and pain. She bit her bottom lip as more images flew into her head, then appeared in screens around her.

—

 _Shinji walked over to the Duel Runner and was about to get on when Jack none-to-kindly pushed her onto the ground, knotting off the headphones around her neck. She looked up to Jack with wide eyes._

" _W-what are you…?"_

" _Your usefulness has just expired." Jack glared down at her_

—

Her lip started bleeding as she tried to keep in her tears. _"You…"_

—

" _Will you stop asking already?!"_

" _I keep asking because I want to help!"_

" _We'll you're not GOING to help! You'll just be a nuisance!"_

" _But I CAN duel!"_

" _Then duel me!"_

" _What!?"_

" _Right here, right now! Duel me, or get out!"_

" _Jack, calm do—" Yusei tried to cut in._

" _I'm not dueling you, Jack! You're my friend!"_

" _There may come a time where you would need to duel one of us!"_

" _Then I won't!"_

" _Then you're weak!"_

—

" _You…"_ She looked up at a large screen, tears streaming down her sorrowful face. However, she did not notice her shadow turning into complete darkness and slowly spreading, consuming the white void.

" _You betrayed me…"_

—

Yusei slowly opened his eyes, squinting them in pain. "Ngh… That hurt…" He looked around, but froze when he saw a dragon hovering in front of him, its body transparent like a ghost. His eyes widened in recognition. "You're…"

Jack slowly stood, stumbling slightly as he gripped his burning mark on his arm. "Guh… Damn Mark…" He looked forward, and took a step when he heard a growl and froze. Wide eyes slowly met light blue as the dragon stared at the boy. His eyes widened. "No way… You're Shinji's card…!"

They both stared at the dragons. The sleek, white body with blue highlights, its claws sharp as knifes. Their teeth razor sharp… And their deep, blue eyes that held so much more than a hologram ever could.

They stared in shock, before exclaiming:

"…The Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"


	8. You Killed Me

The two boys stared at the dragons, shock the only emotion on their faces. Yusei was in more shock than Jack, as he had not seen these cards before. Yusei stared into the dragon's deep blue eyes. "How… is this possible?" he whispered, "You're… not supposed to be here… You disappeared years ago."

"No, it didn't." Yusei looked over as the dragon floated to the side. Jack walked over, gripping his glowing arm, and another Blue-Eyes floating by him as well.

"What do you mean, Jack?" Yusei asked.

"These cards… they were in Shinji's deck. I saw them the day we met her, when her deck had sprawled out on the ground.

Yusei narrowed his eyes as he stood as well, gripping his own glowing arm. "Well, I'm surprised you remember that. After all, you forgot about Shinji." Jack growled with narrowed eyes.

"Shut up, Yusei," he snapped, then looked at his arm, "I see you've got one, too."

Yusei nodded, then frowned. "I'm surprised… After the crash, I thought we'd be more injured…" His eyes widened and he quickly turned his head to the dragon next to him. "You… You saved us?" The dragon roared in agreement.

"How can we see you?" Jack cut in, glaring at the two Blue-Eyes, "You're both spirits! And another thing, how can we feel you?"

The dragon closest to Jack snarled at him, while the other growled to shut it up.

"Jack, you do know you're talking to a dragon, right?" Yusei deadpanned.

"Shut up."

"Anyway…" Yusei drawled, "I wonder why Shinji had these guys in her deck… Maybe—" Yusei stopped talking and shielded his eyes when lights turned on and pointed at him.

"Satellite, you are under arrest!" Yusei glared at them, then at Jack. After a moment, he looked toward the two dragons, only to see them gone. His mark stopped glowing as soon as they left, confusing him.

—

Shinji stared at the ground in a daze, her eyes glazed over. Her shadow spread to cover part of the void in darkness, but not all of it. Though it was getting closer. She heard a judge's hammer, and slowly looked up at a screen, where she saw the back of a familiar face. _"Yusei…"_ she whispered. She watched as the judge read off his crimes, before stopping at trespassing into Neo Domino. Her eyes widened slightly. _"He… dueled Jack…?"_

Her eyes widened even more when she saw some sort of yellow tattoo being plastered onto his face, more specifically by his left eye and cheek. _"Oh Yusei…"_ The darkness spread a bit more, and she frowned. _"This is all Jack's fault…"_

" _No! It isn't… Jack… he didn't put Yusei in jail, did he? How could he do that?"_ She closed her eyes tightly and bowed her head. _"Jack… Why do you hurt us? Why do you hate us? …Why do you hate me?"_

—

 **~TWO DAYS LATER~**

Rally walked into Shinji's room, closing the door behind him. He walked over to Shinji and leaned over her, looking for any changes. After seeing absolutely no change, he sat back on his chair with a sigh. "Shinji… I thought you were going to wake up soon… Why…?"

—

"Ah, Jack, what brings you here?"

"Goodwin, I have a favor I need to ask of you."

"Oh? And what is that?"

—

" _I have a friend in the Satellite…"_

Multiple Sector Security cars and motorcycles drove through the streets of Satellite, with Officer Trudge leading them.

" _Oh? I thought you were done with that dump of a town."_

" _I was, until I was told that a very close friend is hurt and coma-induced."_

Rally sat next to Shinji as he waited for his friends. He gripped his hands together on his lap, unaware of the people headed his way.

" _I see… And what is this favor?"_

The Securities stopped in front of the house. Trudge stepped off his runner and walked to the door.

" _I need you to get some Sector Security officers…"_

Rally heard a knock on the door and stood, thinking it was his friends.

"… _find Shinji…"_

Rally opened the door, and his eyes widened in shock and fear.

"… _and save her."_

"Hello, kid." Rally's eyes widened, staring at Sector Security… with an ambulance. "We're here to bring a Ms. Shinji to the hospital in Neo Domino City."

—

Yusei stood in front of Chief Strong in the facility, his arms held by two securities. ""So how do you like the facility so far, Yusei?" he asked, "I'm sure it smells better than what you're used to in the Satellite."

Yusei glared and said nothing.

Strong smirked and walked behind him. He grabbed his right arm and quieted it behind his back, earning a pained grunt from Yusei. "Rumor has it you're hiding something." he said as he moved Yusei's glove and sleeve to show his bear arm. "And it's my job to find out what it is." After seeing nothing, he tossed Yusei to two men in labcoats. "Take him, you two. Run your tests."

Yusei glared at Strong from behind, gritting his teeth.

—

Yusei sat in the cell, ignoring the happy-go-lucky man next to him, his head in his hands. He doesn't notice the mark on his arm as it glows.

" _Hurry! We're losing her!"_

Yusei's eyebrows creased in confusion. What was he hearing? He also heard a couple slow beeps, like a heart monitor.

" _Clear!"_

The beeping went fast, then quickly back to slow.

" _She's not waking up!"_

" _No!"_

Yusei's eyes shot open, looking at his hands that obstructed his vision. That voice… it was Rally's.

" _She can't die! She needs to wake up! Shinji!"_

Yusei's eyes widened slowly in horror, realizing what he was hearing.

" _Shinji! Stay strong! Please! Yusei needs you to come back!"_

Said boy shut his eyes tightly and shook his head, his mark no longer glowing as the vision cleared. He put a hand on the side of his head as he shook it. "What was that…?"

"Boy, you're a Signer!" Yusei jumped, forgetting he wasn't alone. He looked over at the old man, Yanagi, who was right next to him jumping up and down. Yusei frowned.

"A what?"

"A Signer! You've been chosen by the Crimson Dragon!" Yusei blinked, remembering the large dragon that had appeared during his and Jack's duel. Remembering Jack, Yusei clenched his fists tightly in anger. He took a deep breath.

 _She'll be fine… Rally and the others will care for her. She WILL wake up,_ he thought. He decided to ask the man a few questions. "What is a Signer?" he asked.

"A Signer is someone chosen by the Crimson Dragon…" Yanagi started. He told Yusei about the legend of the Signers, how many there were, and that they were destined to save the world.

Yusei looked down with a frown at his arm that had the mark of the Crimson Dragon on it. He took a deep breath to keep calm. _Save the world, huh?_ he thought, _How can we do that… if I can't save one girl?_

—

"We must do something…"

"We could send _him_ to her?"

"Are you idiots?!"

"Enough!" The Crimson Dragon roared, stopping the three bickering siblings. Its two yellow eyes bore into their six blues.

"But if we don't do something, she'll die!" The first Blue-Eyes, Luma, exclaimed in worry. She was the little sister to the other two, and was the smallest.

"Even worse…" The second Blue-Eyes, Helios, added. He was the second oldest.

"We must give her a reason to keep fighting…" The last one, Ryu, stated. Ryu was, of course, the oldest, strongest, and biggest.

"We could send Yusei," Luma suggested.

"It will not help. She needs to be comforted by _him_ …"

"This could backfire… and if it does, we'll all be in trouble."

"Even if it fails, it will not change the outcome," the Crimson Dragon stated, "She will fall if helped by Yusei, as he is not the one who has hurt her. However, if he does fail in saving her, it will be his own undoing."

"So does that mean…"

"Yes," The Crimson Dragon nodded in agreement, "if she becomes one of them, he, and he alone, will be swallowed by grief."

—

Jack blinked his eyes a couple times, before widening them. "What the…?" He looked around. He was floating in what looked to be a white void. "Where am I?" He looked down at his arm and froze, eyes wide. "My Mark?" He whispered to himself, staring at the glowing mark. He looked around. A lone person sat in the middle of the void, their body hunched over and shoulders shaken as if they were crying. He frowned. "What is this? Huh?" Shadow tendrils swirled around the person's body, before shooting out and expanding over the white void. Jack slowly floated toward the person from behind, and he could make out what they were wearing.

They had on a jacket with two stripes on the sleeves, jean shorts, and a black hat covering short black hair. Jack tensed upon seeing the person. "…Shinji?" he asked.

Shinji's body also tensed upon hearing his voice, as she had tried to deny hearing it at first. Slowly, she turned her head to see the one person she despised more than anything. Jack stiffened, seeing her condition.

"So… Yusei wasn't kidding when he said you were in a bad shape…" he said.

Deep down, Shinji knew she still liked Jack, and hearing his Australian accent gave her hopes that he would return to her, and tell her she was wrong. That he didn't betray them. But she knew. She knew the truth.

In Jack's eyes, she was worse than what Yusei described. Her clothes were tattered and a bit loose on her, showing her loss of weight due to lack of eating. It might be why she hasn't stood up, but then again, he doesn't know how long she's been like this. "Shinji—"

"Why?"

He frowned. Her voice was raspy from lack of use. Her eyes looked dead, but had a spark of hope in them. He looked confused at the question. "Why what?"

She held her hands together in a fist near her chest, digging her nails into her hands to keep from crying. "Why… did you… leave…?"

Jakc was silent. How could he answer that to her? He scoffed. This was probably some crazy dream of his, why should he take this seriously? "Why?" he responded, "Because that dump of a home I called Satellite was wasting away on my talent! I deserved to be in New Domino, And that's where I went." He could see the spark slowly dying.

"But… I…"

"I didn't need you!" He yelled, clenching his fists. He was letting all the anger of this situation get the better of him, and he let it all out. I didn't need ya holdin' me down! Sure, ya have the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, but that doesn't mean ya can duel!" Then an idea struck him. "Hold on… the Blue-Eyes White Dragons belong to Kaiba Corp.!" He growled accusingly at her. "Why did ya have those dragons, huh? I bet ya stole 'em!" Shinji flinched.

"I-I don't remember…" she whispered, looking down, "I only remember having the deck… I don't re—"

"Don't remember? Yeah right! I bet you're just protecting you're precious mummy and daddy from any embarrassment! Oh that's right, you don't have a mummy and daddy!"

Shinji flinched again, the darkness spreading quicker than before. "I—"

"How pathetic. Yusei and Crow always said I had a thing for you, but it was a lie. I would never love some hopeless Satellite like you!"

 _Drip…_

"Huh?" Jack blinked, and looked down at her. Her head was sown, but he could see tears falling onto the ground, her shoulders shaking.

 _Beep…_

Jack looked around in confusion at the beep. "What was that?"

 _Beep…_

Shinji… Jack quickly turned back to Shinji and watched as her skin turned white. "What the? What's goin' on?" he asked, but she didn't respond for a while. Finally, she did.

… _Beep…_

"I see… So that's how you feel…" she whispered, slowly standing. She stumbled and even fell once or twice, but managed to stand, her head still down.

… _Beep…_

"What are you—"

… _Beep…_

"You think this is a dream, right…?" she asked slowly. Jack didn't respond, making her shoulders slump. "Then you're telling the truth… You never cared…" Jack looked around, now realizing the darkness that swallowed the void. "You were just toying with me… Screens appeared in the void around them and played out different scenes from her life in her eyes, all of them muted. Jack looked at them all with wide eyes, realizing his mistake. This place… wasn't a dream. "Jack…" He looked at her and froze. She had turned to him with a frown on her face, her eyes completely dead. The next words struck him cold, and made him fully realize what he had done.

"…You killed me…"

 _Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…._


End file.
